A Lasting Legacy
by Blu Razgriz
Summary: The events of history always have a lasting legacy. However, as Blu and Jewel finally get to have the lives they've always wanted, the legacy of one historical event will influence more than just our two favorite macaws. It's was an event that no one will ever forget, and it has far reaching consequences.
1. Another Day in Rio

{3rd Person POV}

The orange globe of fire and nuclear fusion known as the sun slowly began to rise over the tropical paradise known as Rio, warming the city with its life giving radiation. Everyone, - from the city, to the favelas, to the jungle – was waking up, preparing for another beautiful day in this magical city. There was a strong breeze making its way through the city, bringing a mistlike fog with a scent of sea salt with it. There was a slight whistling in the air as the wind made its way through the leaves of the trees. As the sunlight pierced the canopy of the forest, it struck the fog traveling through the jungle, diffracting the light and causing the air to shimmer like diamonds. All of this provided a surreal scenery that was unsurpassable in beauty.

In a certain part of the jungle in a large cannonball tree lived two Spix Macaws, both preparing to take on another day full of trials, love, and adventure.

Blu, naturally waking up earlier than his mate, took a minute to admire her beauty.

[How did I get so lucky as to be mates with Jewel? I mean yeah, technically were the last of our species, but she didn't have to be with-]

"Good morning Blu." Jewel said, snapping Blu out of his trance.

"Huh…what, oh, good morning Jewel." Blu replied half startled.

Were you lost in your thoughts…again?" Jewel inquired.

"Well…kind of." Blu quickly but nervously replied.

"I swear you do that every morning. What do you even think about when you do that?" Jewel asked.

"Oh…uh, n-n-nothing really important." Blu stammered.

"Come on Blu, you know you can't lie to me." Jewel slyly said.

"Yeah, you're right. If you really must know, I was just thinking about how lucky I am to with the most beautiful bird in the world." Blu wholeheartedly replied.

"Oh Blu, I love it when you say such sweet things about me. How am I lucky enough to have the most kindhearted, selfless and caring bird as my mate?"

"I guess that its just fate that brought us together. And I hope that it stays that way forever." Blu said as the two macaws walked to the edge of the hollow and started watching the sunrise together.

"It's like no two sunrises are ever the same in Rio. Each on has its own beauty." Jewel said admiring the sunrise.

"There's only one thing I can think of that's more beautiful than this." Blu said, looking deeply into Jewel's eyes.

"Oh yeah, and what would that be?" Jewel asked

"You." Blu said with the most sincere passion.

Jewel immediately pulled Blu into an embrace for what seemed to be an eternity.

"I love you so much Blu." Jewel said, ending the embrace.

"I love you too Jewel. And I wouldn't have it any other way." Blu said with the highest of honesty.

Jewel then heard Blu's stomach rumble, albeit very loudly.

"It sounds like one of us is hungry." Jewel commented.

"But…that wasn't me." Blu replied, unsure where the sound came from.

"Come on Blu, I know it was you, I heard it."

"I swear it wasn't me!"

"Fine, Ok. It's not something to get emba-"

"Wait, do you hear that?" Blu said, cutting Jewel off mid sentence.

Jewel listened intently, but could not hear it.

"No, what is it?" Jewel asked, giving Blu a quizzical stare.

Blu acknowledged her while keeping silent, carefully listening to the undeniable sound.

"Wait, I hear it too. But if that's not you, then what is it?"

Just then, they felt the whole tree start shaking as if they were in an earthquake, but Blu knew there were no fault lines near Rio.

The low rumble sound in the distance began to grow exponentially into a deafening roar.

"What's going on? What is that sou-" Jewel screamed, but was silenced as they both saw a group of four F-4E Phantom II attacker jets soar right over the canopy of the jungle, and straight towards the city of Rio.

Blu caught a quick glimpse of one of the Phantoms, and saw that it had a full payload of air-to-ground attack ordinance.

"Oh no…" was all Blu could say as they watched everything unfold before their eyes.

The next things that they saw happen would change everything.

**A/N: Well it seems not all is good in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Things are going to get really interesting next chapter. Reviews in this story are greatly appreciated, seeing as how this is my very first story. It helps me know and gauge my writing skills.**


	2. Peace Shattered, A City Under Siege

~3rd Person POV~

Both macaws watched in horror as the Phantoms flew straight towards the city, releasing their deadly payload all across the city of Rio. What they saw next shocked them beyond all belief. As they stood at the entrance to their hollow, they watched in sheer shock as one Phantom broke formation and launched an air-to-ground missile straight at the Christ the Redeemer statue, annihilating it.

As they watched that unfold, an even deeper roar could be heard in the distance. As they looked around for what was causing it, they saw numerous squadrons of B-52 Stratofortress bombers heading in from the southwest.

"What's going on? Why are they attacking us?" Jewel asked, completely bewildered at why such a horrifying event was unfolding.

"I have no idea, but it seems they don't seem to care about collateral damage." Blu replied.

"Speaking of collateral damage, I'm going to go check on the others to make sure they're Ok." Blu said to Jewel.

"Wait, I'm coming with you." Jewel said to Blu.

"No, I want you to stay here Jewel. I don't want anything bad to happen. I couldn't stand the thought of something happening to you. I-I couldn't live with myself if something did. So, please, just stay." Blu said as he began to leave.

"Alright Blu, but you better come back to me, okay." Jewel said with worry in her eyes.

"I promise." Blu said as he left.

Blu flew as fast as he could towards Rafael's hollow as explosions rocked the sky above him.

[Who would be doing this and why?] Blu thought to himself as he continued his flight to Rafael's hollow.

That question would be answered in mere seconds as a Mirage 2000E flew low enough for Blu to see it carrying the Argentinean emblem on its tail.

[Argentina. Why would Argentina invade Brazil? Brazil hasn't done anything to provoke war with them, have they?]

Before he knew it, he had already arrived at Rafael's hollow.

"Rafael, are you in there? Are you okay?" Blu asked, concerned for the well being of his friend.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Do you have any idea what's going on?" Rafael asked, unsure of what was happening.

"Yeah, actually I do. Rio's being attacked by bombers. And that's not even the half of it. I saw that one of the planes had an Argentine emblem on it!" Blu said over the continuous explosions.

"Argentina? Why would the Argentineans attack us? Rafael shouted, trying to be heard.

"That's what I was wondering. I can't think of any logical explanation as to why they would invade Brazil!" Blu yelled at an equal decibel level.

"So why are you here?" Rafael asked, still shouting.

"I was checking on you guys to make sure you're alright!" Blu yelled.

"We're fine. I just hope that no one gets hurt or even killed. Hey, where's Jewel?" Rafael replied.

"She's still back at our hollow waiting for me. I should get back to her to make sure she's alright." Blu said as he started to leave the hollow.

"Alright amigo. Do try to be careful, alright." Rafael said as Blu started to leave the hollow.

"Ok, I will. You too." Blu replied.

While flying back to his hollow, Blu once again looked up at the sky and noticed the intensity of the attack was increasing.

[Oh God, I hope those bombers don't drop their bombs down here.] Blu thought to himself as he rushed to get home.

However, fate had different plans for Blu, because as the B-52's continued their bombing runs, one of the bombers strayed off course, and dropped a bomb into the forest, hitting the ground not too far from Blu.

The pressure wave from the resulting explosion hit Blu with bone shattering force, throwing his equilibrium off and causing him to become disoriented. In his dizzying state, he was unable to see a branch in his flight path. He then struck the branch and then fell right out of the sky. On the way down, he collided with several tree branches, and his body and wings were lacerated several times during his fall before landing flat on his spine with a sickening crack.

As he lay there in excruciating agony, he managed to look up and see several Brazilian Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons and F/A-18 Super Hornets trying to fend off the invasion.

As darkness started to spread across his field of vision, he heard a loud explosion overhead as an F/A-18 took down a Mirage 2000.

The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was the Mirage trailing fire and plummeting straight towards his home and towards the love of his life.

**A/N: It looks like our two favorite macaws are in some deep trouble, especially Jewel. It doesn't look good for her does it? Is she still alive? Or will Blu have to live the rest of his life alone? Again, reviews are appreciated.**


	3. Hope Destroyed

~Blu's First Person POV~

As I woke up, I distinctly remember an agonizing pain in my back and my wings. I looked at my body and saw numerous cuts across my chest and stomach, some of which were seeping blood. I then looked over at my wings and saw that they hadn't fared much better. They had cuts across them too, along with several feathers missing. As I tried desperately to remember what had happened I tried using my wings to push myself back onto my talons. My first attempt at picking myself up only resulted in me collapsing right onto my back, sending another miasma of pain across my body.

It was then that the events of what had happened slowly began to trickle back to me.

At first I thought it was a dream, a cruel trick of my mind. But as I lay there in pain, I knew it wasn't a dream.

I remember the planes flying over us. Then I went to go see if Rafael was okay. After that I went back and that bomb exploded in the forest while I was on my way back to Jewel…"OH NO, JEWEL!" I yelled, remembering seeing tat plane hit right where our hollow is.

Summoning a Herculean amount of strength, I managed to pick myself and throw myself up in the air in one fluid motion.

The pain suppressed for now by the adrenaline coursing through my body, I flew at speeds I knew I would never be able to replicate.

As I flew through the forest, the familiar clearing containing our hollow, I saw smoke rising from the same area, which I knew wasn't a good sign.

"No, no, no, no, no! Please god tell me this isn't happening!" I said to myself as every fiber of my body tried to tell me that this wasn't real.

But I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was in fact for real and that it was happening.

As I landed, my heart sank clear to my talons. I was overcome with a crushing mountain of grief as I saw our hollow, or what was left of it.

The whole tree that was gone as I saw the charred, burning wreckage of the Argentine fighter resting right where our home used to be. My talons trembled, and my legs buckled under the immense weight of grief as I looked at the horrifying sight before me.

As I lay on my belly, I stared at the carnage in front of me. I knew Jewel had no chance of surviving, as everything within a fifteen foot radius of the plane was completely incinerated by the kerosene jet fuel spread by the impact.

[Why did fate have to be so cruel to those who are innocent? Why did the plane have to crash here of all places? Why did we have to be so painfully separated? What did we do to deserve this?] All of these questions began flowing trough my mind as reality sunk in.

There were so many questions that could be asked, but the irrefutable truth is that she was gone, and I would never see her again. I was now doomed to live out the rest of my meaningless existence as the last member of my species.

I laid there for what seemed like an eternity, crying and mourning the one love I had in this life. [With her gone, what's my purpose here?] I thought to myself.

[I can't just throw away my own life. I know that Jewel would want the best for me; even if that means that I won't see her again. I just need to keep hoping that Jewel is still alive somehow, no matter how logically impossible it may seem.]

I finally managed to gather enough willpower to hold my emotions at bay and recollect my thoughts. [I need to get out of here before the sorrow kills me emotionally and physically.]

Right as I finished that thought, another bomb exploded not too far off into the forest, which was my que to get moving.

[I hope that by some divine power that you're still alive, because I don't know what ill do if you aren't.]

And with that I took off, clinging to what little hope I could.

**A:N Blu is heartbroken. He's in a really bad emotional state of mind. We better hope he can find Jewel. Please review as usual.**


	4. A Lost Macaw

~Blu's First Person POV~

As I left the clearing which now contained nothing more then the husks of burned out trees and ash, I looked up toward the sky, seeing the siege of Rio still not letting up. I carefully flew through the forest with the utmost caution, avoiding the jets overhead, the bombs being dropped, and all of the rest of the chaos around my.

As I flew, I remember the sky that was now engulfed in war was the very same sky that used to bring joy to me as Jewel and I always used to fly together in it. I remember that same beautiful sky that I took a leap of faith from a crashing plane just to be with Jewel for a few more seconds before we both died, only to have her kiss me, sealing our destiny and giving me the ability to fly.

Now as I look at that very same sky, now engulfed in aerial combat and fire, all I feel is overwhelming sorrow and crushing grief. My soul feels empty now, and the only thing that can ease the pain is Jewel, but as far as I know she's dead.

Somehow managing to put away my emotional agony for now, I concentrate solely on flying. That is until I run into Rafael, quite literally I might add.

Stunned by the collision, we both lost a fair amount of altitude. Thankfully, neither of us was hurt, sans my already bruised and battered body, and we both managed to safely land on a tree branch not too far below.

"Oi, mue amigo, are you okay? What happened? You've got cuts all over you! And where's Jewel?" Rafael's last question hit me too hard, and the emotional dam I constructed inside of me burst. I found myself crying uncontrollably at the mention of Jewel again.

As I continued my endless mourning, Rafael put his wing around me in an attempt to help ease my suffering.

"J-Jewel is gone!" I said while still being torn apart by the emotional torrent inside of me.

"Do you have any idea where she went?" Rafael asked.

"She didn't l-leave… she's D-Dead!" I broke down as I said the last two words.

"Oh, mue Deus. Well… how do you know she's dead?" Rafael asked.

"You know the plane that crashed into the jungle not too long ago? Well that same plane crashed right into our hollow." I said, trying to fight back the tears.

"You can't honestly believe she's dead. You know Jewel. She has better survival skills than all of us combined. Do you really think she'd let herself die so easily?" Rafael stated.

"Well, no, I guess you do have a point there. It's just, if she's gone, I don't know what I'd do with myself." I replied.

"Just don't think that way. If you do, then you'll spiral into endless despair. Try to be optimistic. Heck, for all you know Jewel is probably scouring the forest looking for you and worried sick." Rafael said to me.

"B-but…" I tried to respond.

"Blu, remember what I said, 'it's not what you think up here'" he said putting a wing on my head, "it's what you think in here'" he said pointing to my heart. "If your heart says that she's still alive, then trust it, no matter what your head says otherwise."

"Alright, but I just don't see how she could be alive." I told Rafael truthfully.

"Like I said, if anyone knows how to survive, it's her. And remember, if you ever need someone to help you, I'm always here for you." Rafael said to me.

"Thank you Rafael." I said to him as I began to calm down.

After about 15 seconds of silence, I decided to change the topic of the conversation.

"Rafael, do you have any idea how this war could've started?" I asked.

"Actually, I think I might. Do you remember the disaster that happened in Argentina fourteen years ago? Rafael asked me.

"No, first of all, I wasn't in Rio fourteen years ago. And I'm only fifteen years old, so even if I was here when it did happen, I wouldn't have remembered it." I stated.

"Well, let me give you a brief history lesson then. Fourteen years ago, there was an asteroid that was on a collision course with the Earth. On the day the asteroid was to hit the Earth, it broke apart. As it broke apart, many countries were showered by the fragments."

"Argentina among them?" I asked.

"That's right. Argentina was devastated by it. Their country was in ruins, their cities were destroyed, and many people died. As for why they invaded Brazil, I don't know."

"I never thought that this war would be brought about by an asteroid. It just seems too farfetched for me to believe." I replied.

"Just ask anyone who's lived in Rio their whole life, they'll tell you the same story. In fact, I'm pretty sure Jewel knows the same story too. And don't worry Blu, I'm certain Jewel is alive and well, worried sick about you. You just need to go out and find her."

"…Ok…alright I will…Thank you for your help with everything Rafael." I said as I started to leave.

"Anytime." Rafael said to me as I left.

[Jewel, I hope Rafael is right. I just want to be with you again, to know that you're alright. Please, just please be alright.]

**A/N: Well it seems Blu has new hope for Jewel; however he still needs to find her first. Let's hope he does before things really get bad. Please review and tell me how I'm doing so far and tell me how you like it.**


	5. A Lasting Legacy

**A/N: Well we know that Argentina is invading Brazil, but we don't know why. This chapter should give some insight as to why.**

~No POV~

History Lesson

Fourteen years before the Argentine invasion of Rio, there was a cataclysmic disaster that plunged many countries into turmoil, and caused civil war throughout the world. Many people were killed, and everyone affected struggled to survive. It was a time of chaos and strife. This period in time was brought about by the Ulysses Incident.

The Ulysses Incident began in December of the year 1994, when the International Union of Astronomers (IUA) discovered a large asteroid on a collision course with the Earth. It was found that the asteroid, officially labeled the "1994XF04 Ulysses" had a diameter of approximately 1.6 km (1 mile), and that it had an extremely high probability of impacting the Earth. In October 1995, two universities began calculating its exact trajectory. At 3:30 Eastern Standard Time on July 3rd, 1999, the asteroid would be in close proximity with the Earth. The two universities calculated that the asteroid would impact the Earth with a force of 2,000,000 Hiroshima bombs.

The astronomers at first kept this secret from the public, so as to not cause a global panic. With further research the astronomers concluded that the asteroid's impact would wipe out anything within a 100 mile radius and cause a global nuclear winter.

Scientists released the news of Ulysses the following year, and each country prepared its own way of protecting itself. The asteroid interception systems proposed ranged from the simple Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, to satellite weaponry. And even massive mile long railguns. In the end, only one defense system was created: the Stonehenge Turret Network, or STN or short.

As the date of June 3rd, 1999 drew closer, each country braced itself for Ulysses to impact the Earth. However, on that day, Ulysses did something that no one could have predicted.

**July 3****rd****, 1999: The Ulysses Planet fall**

The day of the collision had finally come. However, as Ulysses entered the Earth's Roche Limit, it succumbed to the Earth's gravity, and broke apart into thousands of smaller but equally potent fragments. No one had predicted this to happen. Regardless, the STN facility reacted quickly. The STN managed to destroy a large amount of fragments, but seeing as how it was in the northern hemisphere, it was impossible for it to protect the southern hemisphere. Meteor fragments rained down on many southern countries, Argentina among them. When the Ulysses fragments ceased to fall two years later, the number of fatalities totaled more than 500,000 people.

Countries struggled to rebuild, and world superpowers such as the United States and Russia sent out as much disaster relief aid as possible.

Many countries were faced with the hardships of the aftermath of Ulysses. There were refugees everywhere and many countries refused to help because they were already trying to deal with their own issues. Many more died from disease and famine.

However, Argentina was hit far worse than anyone else. Their entire country was decimated by the Ulysses fragments. Estimated casualty reports put the death count at over 50,000 dead. Their economy crippled, the country soon fell into civil war. Thousands more died in the following years, and eventually the government was taken over by a group of militaristic leaders know as "The Generals". Through their regime, Argentina recovered and became a strong military power. However, these "Generals" harbored a hatred for the country of Brazil. They believed that Brazil had refused to help Argentina in their time of need, and had invoked a rebellion which had started their civil war. This however, was untrue. Brazil had been one if the first responding countries during Argentina's plight. Through the use of propaganda and censoring the media, they were able to convince the populace that Brazil had brought this upon them. They swore to exact revenge on Brazil, and to take their resources for their own use, seeing as how they used theirs on their military buildup. Using their newfound military power, the Argentine armed forces then invaded Brazil, slowly making their way towards Rio, bent on crippling and demolishing the nation.

**A/N: Well now you know the tragic history that has caused the unfortunate events that have plagued Blu and Jewel, and all of Rio. No matter what you can't change history. And it seems that our two favorite macaws found this out the hard way. Review as usual.**


	6. Lost and Taken

**A/N: This is where the bulk of the story begins. So, in this story, I've decided for the story to take a sort of…deviation, from the usual way these stories are written, at least in the way I think. I will be making the story also follow a fighter pilot who's involved in the operations in the war, just so we can get a fresh perspective from time to time, and so I don't run out of ideas (like I said earlier, this is my first fanfiction). And don't worry, we'll still follow our two favorite Spix's Macaws. So from now until the end there will be shifts in the point of view between them.**

~Blu's First Person POV~

As I left Rafael behind, I noticed the Brazilian Air Force was beginning to gain the upper hand against the Argentine forces. One by one, the Argentine forces were being beat back.

[At least this nightmare is almost over. I just wish that is was a dream.] I thought to myself as I continued flying between the trees.

Just then, as I passed through clearing in the jungle, an azure streak caught my eye. "Jewel!" I called out as I turned my head towards the direction it went. "Jewel, is that y-"

Then everything went black…again.

###

~3rd Person POV~

Two pilots both flying F/A-18's were quickly making their way to the battle that was ensuing over Rio

"Osprey, this is Phoenix, do you have visual confirmation on the enemy?" Asked Arara 1 (Phoenix), a Brazilian Air Force Pilot.

"…Negative, airspace is clear…" Replied Arara 2 (Osprey).

"Arara Squadron, this is Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) call sign Talon, I'll be relaying critical battle information to you from now on." Talon said.

"Copy that Talon. Talon, do you the enemy on radar?" Phoenix asked.

"Arara 1, standby…"

…

…

"Arara 1, I've got a large enemy presence on radar. My God! I'm counting at least 70 enemy aircraft! They've brought at least three fighter battalions!"

"Talon, please confirm. Did you say THREE fighter battalions!?"

**A/N: A fighter battalion usually consists of about 24 planes. So three fighter battalions is about 72 planes.**

"That's correct Two, why don't feel like turning and burning with our guests today?" Phoenix asked sarcastically.

"…Negative One."

"Then what are you waiting for, let's smoke these guys!"

"Copy that Boss."

"May Cristo Redentor bless us all." Osprey said.

"Arara Team, we have a large formation of bombers in the city airspace. The bombers are priority one, all other hostiles are secondary." Talon said.

"Copy that Talon, bombers confirmed priority one targets."

"Arara Team, you're clear to engage all hostiles in the vicinity."

"Copy that Talon, Arara 1 and 2 are engaging."

Arara Team then began their attack on the enemy forces. At first the Argentine Air Force had the upper hand, but as the Brazilian Air Force gathered more reinforcements, the battle began to turn in Brazil's favor.

Arara focused on taking out the bombers, while their allied squadrons – Falcão and Abutre Squadrons – focused on downing the escort planes.

After about thirty minutes of intense combat, the airspace was for the most part clear, aside from the straggling fighter planes.

"Talon, all bombers are down, the airspace is secure." Phoenix said

"Arara, our scopes are clear as well, great work." Replied Talon.

###

~Off the coast of Rio~

"Segador Squadron will engage enemy forces following Nimbus Missile attack." Said Segador One, the leader of the ace squadron.

"Prepare for Nimbus missile launch!" the Heavy Command Cruiser (HCC) captain said.

The hatches on top of the HCC began to open, revealing the massive missiles.

"Nimbus launch in…5…4…3…2…1…LAUNCH!"

The Burst missiles rocketed upwards out of the HCC, and then corrected their flight path and flew at blistering speeds towards Rio.

"All planes, commence attack on the enemy forces following Nimbus impact." Segador 1 said to his squadron of eight planes.

###

~Meanwhile, back at the Jungle~

~Blu's First Person POV~

"Blu…"

"Blu…can you hear me?"

I slowly began to come to when I heard someone calling my name.

"Blu…wake up."

I immediately recognized whose voice was calling me. However, I could not form the necessary words from my beak as I tried to reply.

I slowly began to see the green canopy of the trees as I came out of unconsciousness.

"J-Jewel…" I said as I slowly rose to my talons, half expecting to be in heaven.

Blu, you're okay. I thought for sure I was going to lose you."

"Jewel…You're ALIVE!" I exclaimed as I wrapped my wings around Jewel. I started sobbing uncontrollably into the perfect azure plumage on Jewel's chest.

"Blu, what's wrong? Why are you crying? I was worried sick about you after you hit that tree head on. I went to see if you were alright, but you wouldn't wake up."

"I thought you were dead Jewel." I stated.

"Why would you think I was dead Blu?" Jewel responded.

"Well when I was on my way back to the hollow, I saw a plane crash right into our hollow, and when I got there, everything was burned to ashes. I don't understand how you survived." I said to her as my sobbing fit slowed to small whimpers.

"Well apparently fate was on my side. Not long after you had left, I heard an explosion in the distance, so I went to go check it out. I looked everywhere for its location, but I couldn't find it. So I decided to come back here because I figured you were back already. When I got there, I saw that the whole tree had been replaced by a jet. I thought for certain that you were dead. I was so heartbroken that you were gone, and so I left, and that's when I found you here."

"I'm just so relieved that you're alive and well Jewel." I said to her, my voice shaky from the pain I was in.

"Well unfortunately the same can't be said for you. What happened to you anyway? You look like you got into a fight and lost."

"Well that explosion that you went to check out was a bomb, and I got caught in it." I stated.

"Oh Blu, I'm sorry that happened to you. I just wish that this day wasn't happening." Jewel said as she hugged me tightly.

At first the pain was too much for me to handle, but the warmth of Jewel's embrace and knowing that she was alive was enough to help numb the pain.

Our embrace was cut short as a massive explosion ripped through central Rio, and sent shockwaves reverberating across the city.

"Ok, I think we need to leave NOW or we're going to die!" I said pulling Jewel into the air.

###

5 minutes earlier

"Ha-ha! Looks like we got those Argentine flyboys on the run!" Phoenix said.

"Arara, Falcão, and Abutre Squadrons, this is Talon. We're picking up six targets moving at high speed towards Rio, Standby."

"Uh Talon, those look like missiles!" Osprey yelled.

"All aircraft, get out of there! Evade! Evade!" Talon yelled at everyone.

The Nimbus missiles impacted right above Guanabara Bay, Copacabana, and downtown Rio de Janeiro.

Right after the explosions, Segador Squadron appeared to take out what was left of the forces protecting Rio.

"Segador Squadron, take out any stragglers you see. Dont let any survive!" Segador 1 said.

An intense dogfight broke out between the Segador and Arara teams. Segador quickly took the advantage, forcing Arara to stay on the defensive.

Eventually, Phoenix managed to break free against his attackers. He was able to shoot down Segadors' 3, 4, and 8.

"All planes retreat to rally point Kilo. Rio has fallen into our hands." Said Segador Lead.

After a long absence of hearing any of Talon's voice, Talon came back on the comms.

"...All squadrons...Air Defense Command has ordered us to evacuate...break away from this airspace and head North." Talon said with a strong tone of sadness in his voice.

"What did you just say? You're out of your mind! We we cant just abandon the city!" Phoenix yelled.

"Listen! We are militarily at a huge disadvantage. The plan is to withdraw, meet up with all remaining forces, then regroup for a counter attack. We cant afford to lose you, follow the order." Talon said.

"I guess there's nothing else we can do. Lets get out of here." Phoenix said, saddened by the news.

And with that, the Brazilian military evacuated.

**A/N: Well that sure was a long chapter for me to write. To be honest, the way in which Jewel had survived was completely coincidental. I actually had no idea that it would work out that way, but apparently it did. As usual, if you feel up to it, send me a review.**


	7. On the Defensive

~3rd Person POV

Both macaws flew through the now chaotic forest as the entire sky above them was bathed in fire.

"Where are we going?" Jewel asked.

"Were getting out of here!" Blu replied.

"I know that, but where exactly are we going?" Jewel asked again.

"Uhhh…we can't fly out of here. We'll never make it past the city limits. The only thing I can think of is to hitch a ride on a plane." Blu replied.

"Wait…Did you say a plane? There's no way I'm going in a plane!" Jewel said matter-of-factly.

"I'm sorry Jewel. We either do that, or we stay here and die."

Jewel then remained silent for a while, as if contemplating which choice to make, although it was an obvious choice.

"Well I guess I have no other choice. Where do we have to go?"

"I was hoping you would know where the airport was. I'm not familiar with Rio, remember."

"Oh yeah, that's right. Let's see. If I remember correctly, there are two airports in Rio: Santos Dumont and Galeao International Airport."

"Santos Dumont is over by the Centro District. Ah, it's right...there." Jewel said pointing her wing to its location.

"Oh no." Jewel said flatly.

Blu followed Jewel's wing in the direction it was pointed, and that's when he saw what she meant.

Smoke was pouring out of the airport, and the whole length of the runway was completely decimated. It would be impossible for any aircraft to take off from it.

"Well that one is out of the question. We better hope that the other one is intact." Blu stated.

Sure enough, as they looked in the direction of Galaeo International Airport, they could see that it was for the most part intact, save for the hostile forces attacking it.

"We'd better get moving if we want any hope of getting out of here!" Blu stated.

"There's no need to tell me twice." Jewel replied.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get going before our window of escape closes."

The two of them then began the perilous flight towards Rio's only fully functioning airport.

After about 10 minutes of close calls and near death flight, Blu and Jewel finally made it to Galaeo.

"So which one do we get in? They all look the same!" Jewel said.

"Well if the military is evacuating, then we should look for a military plane." Blu countered.

They both began scanning the area for said aircraft. They were searching for a good 5 minutes before one of them spotted what they were looking for.

"Hey Blu, will that one work?" Jewel asked.

Jewel pointed her wing towards the plane in question. Blu followed where her wing was pointing, and at the end of it was a massive C-5 Galaxy transport plane in the process of loading supplies.

"Uh…Yeah, actually that will work just fine. Come on. We need to get inside of it, before it takes off.

They both double timed it to the plane and quickly flew inside the nose of the plane, hoping they both didn't get spotted by the crew.

**A:N The C-5 loads and unloads cargo in a unique way. The whole nose section of the plane tilts upward, allowing the cargo to be easily transported in and out.**

Both macaws eventually found a place to hide until the plane left Rio.

"So what do we do now?" Jewel asked in a worried tone.

"We just wait, and hope we can ride this war out." Blu answered in an equally apprehensive tone.

**8 Hours Later**

"Jewel…

"Jewel wake up. We're here."

"Huh…what? Where are we?" Jewel asked groggily.

"Actually…I was hoping you could answer that."

"Well, until we actually leave the plane, I can't tell you much."

"Oh yeah. I kind of forgot that we were still in the plane. Then why don't we get out now, Okay?"

"Fine by me."

The two of them both left the plane, and were immediately blinded by the unrelenting sunlight bearing down on them.

"Well that sure doesn't help us in finding out where we are." Blu remarked while shielding his eyes with his wings.

After a few seconds of adjusting their eyesight, they were able to see just where they had been taken.

"Jewel, do you have any idea where we are?" Blu inquired.

"Uhh…If I remember correctly…this city is Sao Luis. It's the northernmost city in Brazil. That would also explain why we were blinded when we got outside; we're right by the equator." Jewel responded.

Just then, the distinctive wail of air raid sirens could be heard across the whole city.

"No, no. Not again. This can't be happening AGAIN!" Blu shouted.

###

~3rd Person POV~

Meanwhile, up in the air, Talon was giving the remaining allied forces an emergency in-flight briefing.

"Arara Team and all remaining allied fighter squadrons, listen up! We've got an enemy attack force en route to Sao Luis. We believe their planning on wiping out Machado Airfield. If they succeed, then we will be unable to stop them from taking over our entire country. This territory is all we have left. It's in your hands now. Protect it at ALL costs!"

"Copy that Talon; you can count on us to get the job done." Replied Osprey.

Arara Team, along with Falcão and Abutre Squadrons, proceeded to the combat area on an intercept course with the hostile forces.

"Attention all forces, we've picked up an enemy bomber formation on its way to Machado. Intercept immediately!" Talon ordered.

"Roger that Talon, we're on our way." Phoenix responded.

Phoenix shot straight past the bomber squadron and immediately commenced an 8-G turn, effectively putting the rear of the bombers in his sights. After acquiring a target lock, Phoenix uncaged his weaponry on the bombers, downing them all.

"Another bomber formation! Intercept!" Talon shouted.

This time, Falcão and Abutre squadrons broke off and made quick work of the planes.

"All forces, we've got another bomber formation on approach. …There's…quite a few this time…"

All three squadrons engaged the last squad of planes and downed them with relative ease. However, they failed to see the group of four Tu-160 supersonic bombers approaching at low altitude towards the city.

**A/N: I know what kind of aircraft both countries militaries use. I'm using these aircraft because they seem more fitting for the story, and because they work better in my opinion.**

"Talon all enemy bombers are confirmed down. Awaiting further orders." Osprey said.

"Hold on… We've received reports that there are still four bombers on approach at high speed from the south-east." Talon replied.

"Não, porcaria!" Phoenix yelled.

"Arara Team, you're the only ones close enough that can stop them. You need to hurry before it's too late!"

Arara team pushed their F-18's to their limits, trying desperately to reach the planes before the reached the airport.

They both just barely managed to shoot down the first three bombers, but the last one was still barreling towards the city and was closing fast.

"It's going too fast! We'll never catch up to it!" Osprey yelled.

"I've got one solution that we can use. I'll try to shoot it down with an AMRAAM." Phoenix replied.

"Whatever you got, just do it."

Phoenix then armed the AMRAAM, and tried for a target lock.

"Almost got it…"

…

…

"NOW!"

The missile dropped from the belly of the plane and made its high speed flight towards its intended target. About 7 seconds after it was launched, it struck the bomber on the tail section with a concussive boom.

"Talon…the last bomber is now down. The airspace is now clear."

"Copy that, you're cleared to return home.

###

Back in the city…

After what seemed like an eternity, the air raid sirens finally ceased, much to Blu and Jewel's relief.

The city's intercom system then broadcast an all clear signal throughout the city.

"THE RED ALERT HAS BEEN CALLED OFF. I REPEAT, THE RED ALERT HAS BEEN CALLED OFF."

"We'll…at least we've made it through another day of almost dying…right." Blu asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Yeah, at least were safe for now." Jewel replied.

"Hey Blu, do you think that the United States will send support to Brazil?"

"I'm pretty sure that they will, seeing as how Brazil is part of the United Nations. If they don't, then I don't know how this will end." Blu responded while yawning.

"Well, at least we have some welcome respite now." Jewel stated flatly.

"Yeah…we should probably sleep while we can. It wouldn't benefit us if we didn't." Blu replied.

"I guess that would be a good idea."

"Well, goodnight Jewel." Blu said, half asleep.

"Goodnight Blu." Jewel replied warmly.

Both macaws then fell asleep, trying to get whatever sleep that they could.

**A/N: So these next few chapters are going to focus more on the operations that the military is undergoing in the fight to take Rio back. So expect to see more of the missions that the military is doing in the next couple of chapters. Leave a review and tell me how I'm doing and how you like the story.  
**


	8. Support Has Arrived

**A/N: Sorry about such a long delay. Being sick and getting ready to graduate from high school really eat away at my time. But I'm not planning on ending this anytime soon, and hopefully I'll be able to spend more time on this. So anyway, this chapter contains an OC generously donated by another author here on FF. I'd like to personally thank Ricardo the Black Hawk for permission in letting me use his character in my story.**

**~The city of Sao Luis~**

After the events of the previous night - and the last refuge that they had left – Blu and Jewel finally had some welcome peace that they haven't had in a while. The two of them had flown to the central part of the city to think about their plans for the time being.

"So what are we going to do now? This war has forced us from our friends, our home, and our lives. We don't know anyone here, and we don't know anything about this place." Jewel asked.

"I guess the only thing we really can do is wait out this war, and hope that we can go back home." Blu replied.

"Ei, vocês dois! Vocês dois pássaros azuis, por aqui!" A voice called from the distance. **(Hey, you two! You two blue birds, over here!)**

Jewel looked over in the direction of the voice and saw a massive black hawk flying towards her. Within seconds the hawk landed in close proximity of Blu and Jewel.

"Você é o único que nos chamou?" Jewel replied. **(Are you the one who called us?)**

"Por uma questão de facto, sim. Desculpe, onde estão minhas maneiras? Meu nome é Rico, e eu não pude deixar de ouvir vocês dois falando sobre ser forçado longe de sua casa por esta guerra." Rico replied. **(As a matter of fact, yes. Sorry, where are my manners? My name is Rico, and I couldn't help but overhear you two talking about being forced away from your home by this war.)**

"Infelizmente, é verdade. Blu e eu perdi tudo o que temos de volta no Rio por causa disso. Nós estávamos apenas a sorte de pegar uma carona em um avião e fazê-lo em segurança aqui. Por que você pergunta?" Jewel replied ruefully. **(Unfortunately, it's true. Blu and I have lost all that we have back in Rio because of it. We were just lucky enough to catch a ride on an airplane and make it to safety here. Why do you ask?)**

"Bem, tanto quanto dói-me a dizer isto, eu tive que sofrer o mesmo destino que o dois de você tem. Eu perdi tudo que eu tive também."Rico added contritely. **(Well, as much as it hurts me to say this, I had to suffer the same fate the two of you have. I lost everything I had too.)**

As the two continued to talk, Blu looked on at the two completely and utterly confused, unable to decipher what they were saying.

"Uh…Jewel, what are you two saying?" Blu asked.

"Oh, you're an American?" Rico responded, a little surprised.

"Why does everyone always act surprised at that?" Blu replied.

"Well there aren't many Americans here in Brazil, and everyone usually speaks Portuguese." Jewel said.

"So aside from that, what were you two talking about?" Blu asked, trying to change to subject.

"Well it seems that Rico here has also been forced to flee Rio and come here for safety also." Jewel answered.

"So you also know what it feels like to lose everything you've worked so hard to get." Blu stated dolefully.

"Yeah, and the terrible part is that there is nothing that we could've done to prevent it." Rico replied solemnly.

"It always seems that the real world always seems to find a way to make the most honest and selfless people have to suffer." Blu added.

A period of silence then ensued, leaving all three birds in a reflective state. After what felt like forever, one of them decided to break the silence.

"So what do you two plan on doing now that you're here?" Rico asked.

"The only thing that we really can do is can ride out this war, and hope that we can return to the lives that we all have lost."

After that thought, the three of them saw a mass of police cars racing down the streets below and towards the city's harbor.

"That's strange; I wonder where they're going in such a hurry." Jewel said.

"Well there's no harm in checking it out. Want to go see what all of the commotion is about?" Blu asked.

Rico and Jewel both nodded nonchalantly, and the three of them flew towards the harbor.

As they approached the harbor, they saw two monolithic boats, both of them with an armada of other boats around them. On one of the massive boats' bridge was painted in white **CVN 76**, on the other was painted **CVN 77**.

"What in God's name are those? They're ENORMOUS! Rico exclaimed.

"Blu, do you have any idea what they are?" Jewel asked.

"Uh… they're U.S. Navy Supercarriers. Each one can carry about 90 fighter jets and about 2000 Marines. If I remember correctly, the one that says CVN 76 is the USS Ronald Reagan, and the one that says CVN 77 is the USS George W. Bush." Blu stated.

"Why would they be here if they're American?" Rico asked.

"Because...I think they're here to help us win this war." Blu said.

###

~**The USS George W. Bush~**

"Arara Team, you're cleared for JSF depature. Climb to 7000 and fly to Rally Point Bravo." The air traffic controller in the bridge said.

"Wilco. Arara Team for JSF departure to Rally Point Bravo. Wish us luck, and Godspeed." Phoenix replied.

Phoenix and Osprey then switched their F-35's - granted to them by the US Navy - into vertical take off mode. The two jets then slowly rose off of the deck of the carrier and into the sky.

**A/N: The F-35 Lightning II is a new US multirole fighter jet. It has VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) capabilities, and is capable of doing everything the Harrier can, but it's max airspeed is about two and a half times that of the Harrier.)  
**

After about 30 minutes, Arara team had arrived at Rally Point Bravo, just outside of the city of Recife. Talon then began to give the Allied Squadrons the mission details.

"All squadrons, listen up. Today's objective is to retake the city of Recife, and then use that as a base of operations for attacking the enemy's Heavy Command Cruiser. We have 3 operations to concentrate on. First, secure air supremacy in the airspace above the city. Second, have a special forces unit retake Guararapes Airport. And third is to neutralize all remaining resistance in the city. I know you can do this."

"Roger that Talon. Arara and Abutre Teams will secure air superiority while Falcão Team will help with the special forces deployment."

"This is Cypher, Abutre team will provide support for Arara." Cypher said, the leader of Abutre Squadron.

"This is Ozone, Falcão Team is en route to the airport to provide support." said Ozone, Falcão's leader.

"Alright, let's make this a quick and easy fight!" Phoenix said.

The three teams then broke off, flying to their assigned areas.

"Tally on numerous enemy aircraft. I'm counting at least 20 aircraft." Osprey stated.

"Copy, I've got visual now. Wait...those look like Su-27's. Those are Russian planes! How the hell did they get Russian jets." Ozone yelled.

"It doesn't matter. What does matter is that we take them down before they take us down." Phoenix said.

Arara Team engaged the first few Flankers (the Su-27's nickname), but this was proving difficult.

Osprey was about to fire a missile at the Flanker when it suddenly pointed its nose upwards 90 degrees and bled off a lot of his airspeed, causing Osprey to fly right past him. This allowed the Flanker to get a clean lock on Osprey.

"What the hell! Phoenix, I could use a little help!" Osprey yelled.

"I'm on it."

Phoenix quickly disengaged his fight with another plane, and flew over to help his wingman. He got a quick lock on, and then uncaged a Sidewinder missile. The missile hit the plane right behind the cockpit, completely destroying it.

"Thanks, I though I was dead for a second." Osprey said, relieved.

"That was only one. If this is what this battle is going to be like, it's going to be a long one."

Talon then unexpectedly came on the radio with some important intelligence.

"Arara and Abutre teams, listen up! I've received intelligence concerning the Flanker's design. While it has incredible vertical turning abilities, its horizontal turning abilities lack. This means that if you can attack it in a horizontal turn, you can outperform it every time."

"Thanks for the good information Talon. Alright, it's time to clean house." Phoenix said.

Armed with the new found intel, Arara and Abutre Teams were able to quickly down most of the Flankers. However, the last few planes left were piloted by some pretty top notch pilots. Every time they had a lock on them, the Flankers would perform a cobra maneuver.

"Hold on, I've got an idea!" Phoenix said.

Phoenix then allowed a Flanker to get on his tail. The Flanker was just about to fire a missile at Phoenix when he threw his F-35 into vertical flight mode, causing the Russian fighter to overshoot his target. Phoenix then took this opportunity to counter the Flanker. He got a quick lock on, and launched a Sidewinder at the plane, destroying it.

"Well we can't do a cobra maneuver, but we can still hover. Use the F-35's hover ability to take the rest of these guys down." Phoenix said to all the other pilots.

Using this tactic, they were able to down the rest of the planes with relatively little difficulty.

"That's all of the planes. Now let's switch focus to the airfield take over." Ozone said.

The two squadrons flew over to the airport to give support to the ground forces.

"All planes, switch to ground attack weaponry. There's no point in using a Sidewinder against a tank." Phoenix said to the others.

All three squadrons: Arara, Abutre, and Falcão Squadrons put their F-35's into vertical flight and began attacking the forces at the airport. However, there was heavy Anti-Aircraft fire coming from the ground. Unfortunately, one of the Allied planes was hit by the flak from the ground.

"Mayday, Mayday! This is Abutre Three, I'm hit! I can't control the plane! I'm going down!" Yelled Abutre Three.

The other pilots looked back and saw his plane losing altitude and trailing smoke. The smoke was too thick for them to tell if he had ejected, and they all watched as the plane slammed into a building.

"Damn! Talon, requesting SAR for a downed pilot near the airport." Cypher requested.

"Copy that. SAR will be in the area in about 30 minutes." Talon acknowledged.

"Copy. All planes, were almost done here." Ozone said.

The three squadrons finished the rest of the hostile ground forces off, leaving a clean slate for the special forces to take the airport. After about five minutes, four MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters escorted by two AH-64 Apaches arrived at the airport and deployed the special forces teams.

"Thanks for your great air support today guys, we couldn't have made it without you. You can get out of here now, we'll take it from here." The pilot of the Apache said.

'Copy that, Arara, Abutre, and Falcão Squadrons to egress out of the combat zone and head back to base." Phoenix replied.

With that the three teams returned home with another victory for the Allied forces. Day by day, they were getting closer and closer to taking back Rio, and the rest of the country.

**A/N: Another victory for the Allies. Again, sorry for being gone for so long. Depending on how much time I have these couple of weeks, I might update more frequently or less frequently. I hope that it's the first one, but things can always come up. Soon the Battle for Rio will be upon us, but first the Allies need to take out the Heavy Command Cruiser, and that won't be easy. Anyway, thanks to all of the people who have read this so far.**


	9. Heavy Command Cruiser

**A/N: So in the beginning of the war, I mentioned something called the Heavy Command Cruiser. Well, if the Allied forces have any hope of reaching Rio, they're going to have to take it down. Let's hope that they can do it. And these next few chapters probably aren't going to have anything to do with Blu and Jewel, seeing as how all that they can do is just stay and wait.**

**And one more thing. I've been talking to Rapture At Sea, or Toltec Spirit as he's now known. He and I both agree that his new story, The Warrior From Cydonia, is seriously lacking in reviews. This story is a top notch story, and one that you SHOULD NOT just cast aside. It may be Rapture's best story so far. So it would really mean a lot to me and especially Rapture if you would check it out; and LEAVE REVIEWS. **

**Anyway, I just felt that I needed to say that on behalf of Rapture. So, now onto my story.**

**~USS George W. Bush Briefing Room~**

"Alright teams, listen up! This is going to be one of the most important missions of the war, so listen carefully." The acting Commander aboard the carrier said.

"We have vital intelligence concerning the enemy's superweapon that they used during the initial attack on Rio. It's called the P-1112 Aigiaon. The P-1112 Aigaion is a heavy command cruiser, an airship capable of simultaneously delivering heavy firepower and serving as a mobile command base in the battlefield. The design of the ship's airframe is evocative of a manta ray's shape, possessing a rhomboidal wing configuration and a massive opening in the front section, the superior section of which houses the Aigaion's cockpit. It has a vaguely boat like hull, which suggests it is capable of water landings in emergencies or may incorporate lifting body principles to lower fuel usage.

The Aigaion is capable of housing a number of fighter aircraft in within itself, which enter through an opening in the rear and are launched from the frontal "mouth" section with the aid of catapults. It also houses helicopter and VTOL landing pads above the runway. It is powered by thirty two enormous jet engines, equipped with afterburners for increased output during takeoff, while using a nuclear reactor housed beneath the cockpit for electrical power. The fuel tanks can hold enough fuel to allow the Aigaion to fly for roughly 72-hours, after which it has to be refueled by a squadron of six KC-10 Extender tankers. However, the refueling process leads to a weakening of the P-1112's radar system, rendering it unable to detect any targets in front of it. Due to its size and status as an airborne aircraft carrier, it cannot maneuver as well as its smaller Gyges and Kottos brethren, leaving it vulnerable to fighter aircraft.

A massive aircraft in itself, the P-1112 is armed with a staggering variety of anti-air weapons. Several missile launchers and automatic guns are located along the upper, inferior and middle sections of the airframe. A number of SAM platforms are located in the upper central section, which can be deployed in the case of an emergency, and six flak cannons in the helipad section at the Aigaion's rear. Mobile AA guns sit in the Aigaion's hangar to defend against incursions. The core weapons of the Aigaion are the Nimbus, modified airburst cruise missiles with a thousand kilometer range. These are launched from the dorsal section of the Aigaion. And the Nimbus Missiles are the things that you need to watch out for. Our plan is to exploit its radar weakness during its next mid-air fuel up. When it is refueling, we'll ambush from in front of it, leaving it unable to detect us until it's too late. While you're on this mission, we'll have the Reagan attack and capture the city of Vitoria."

"This sounds like a suicide mission if you ask me. Why can't we be on the city takeover mission?" Cypher said.

"It's the only way that we can even have a shot of winning this war and going back home. And we need all of our top pilots for this mission."

"We'll be adding a new team member alongside you. You'll be flying alongside Gryphus One. In addition, we'll be providing you with the F-22 Raptor, the most advanced air superiority fighter that the United States military has. Try to bring them back in one piece. Alright teams, suit up and get in your aircraft."

**A/N: The F-22 actually cannot take off from an aircraft carrier. It doesn't have the necessary modifications for it. It only does in my story for the added effect.**

**~George W. Bush Flight Deck~**

"All squadrons, proceed to NAV point after take-off. You're cleared for take-off." The ATC in the bridge said.

Abutre Team took off first, followed by Falcao Squadron. Arara Team took off after , and last to leave the deck was Gryphus One.

The squadrons then got in formation and flew to their destination: Fernando de Noronha.

**~40 miles West of Fernando de Noronha~**

"Segador One to Aigaion, requesting permission to land."

"Aigaion to Segador Team, permission granted. Stay clear of our jet wash."

**A/N: If you YouTube the song 'Release' from the Ace Combat Assault Horizon Soundtrack and listen to it, it makes this next section have a bit more mood to it.**

**~30 miles West of Fernando de Noronha~**

"Were almost there. Just stay on this axis and keep heading east." Phoenix said.

The whole formation of planes saw the outline of the Aigaion, along with the two Kottos electronic support craft and the two Gyges attack craft.

"I've picked up an anomaly on radar; what's happening?!" A crewmember on the Aigaion said.

"All forces, engage!" Talon said.

"Abutre Team engaging!"

"Falcao Team engaging!"

"Arara Team engaging!"

"Gryphus One engaging!"

All four squadrons of aircraft proceeded to attack the Aerial Fleet. The first aircraft that they focused on were the Kottos.

"All teams, the Kottos aircraft are providing Electronic Support Measures, be careful." Talon said.

Arara Team and Gryphus One focused on the destroying the #2 Kottos' engines. The three aircraft strafed the dorsal section of the aircraft, disabling its engines entirely.

"Number one electronic support system down, it's going down!" Talon said.

The oversized aircraft then began its descent into the deep Atlantic, never to be seen again.

"Open all gun ports, Segador Team scramble!" The Aigaion captain yelled.

One by one, eight Su-33's emerged from the front of the Aigaion, ready to fight. They quickly got into formation, hoping to fend off the attackers. However, by the time that they began their defensive attacks, the allied forced had already destroyed the second Kottos craft.

"Hey, those are the planes that helped to take over Rio! Let's take them down one and for all!" Osprey yelled.

Arara Team switched their focus from the Aerial Fleet to the Segador Squadron. The Segador Team quickly got the upper hand, leaving the Arara Team to act defensively. As the two squadrons battled, the Aigaion was slowly getting farther from them.

"BRING OUT THE NIMBUS!" One of the Aigaion crew members yelled. The missile ports on top of the craft opened, allowing the missiles to be fired.

"Nimbus ready to fire…"

"Nimbus…launch!"

Five nimbus missiles went streaking into the air and straight towards Arara Team. Acting almost subconsciously, Phoenix put his Raptor into a 9G turn straight towards the ground. The missiles streaked past him and continued on, only to detonate in midair. This gave him an idea.

"Nimbus ready to fire…"

"Nimbus…launch!"

Acting on his idea, Phoenix turned his Raptor towards the Segador Team and turned the afterburners to full. He then shot straight past the Su-33's and towards the Aigaion. Had the Segador Team been paying attention to his actions, they would have seen that he was setting up a trap for them, and they had fallen right into it.

The Nimbus missiles rocketed past Phoenix and Osprey and towards the Segador Team. They detonated right in the middle of the squadron, downing all of the planes.

"The enemy squadron has been taken care of. Now let's focus on downing that beast of an aircraft." Osprey said.

While the Arara team was busy dogfighting with the Su-33's, the rest of the formation had taken care of the rest of the escort craft, leaving the Aigaion to fight alone. Each squadron focused on destroying each of the four engine blocks.

Gryphus was the first to destroy an engine block, followed by Falcao Team.

"We've lost two engine blocks!"

"Don't worry, she can still fly"

After a few more minutes, the final two engine blocks were destroyed, leaving the Heavy Command Cruiser powerless.

"We will not be defeated! Open all Nimbus launchers, keep attacking no matter what!"

"Why isn't it dead yet?" Phoenix asked.

"Hit it in the cockpit with a missile and sever the controls! That should do it." Phoenix said.

Osprey proceeded to fly in front of the ship to get a lock on the cockpit. As he launched the missile into it, his left wing was hit by anti-aircraft fire.

"I can't believe it! It's still not dead!"

"Its vital area is the nuclear reactor inside of the craft itself. You'll have to line yourself up in front of it and fly through the craft to destroy it." Talon said.

"Well, I guess I really don't have a choice in the matter." Phoenix stated

Phoenix lined himself up with the front of the Aigaion and applied full afterburners. As he weaved his way through flak, anti-aircraft fire, and even Nimbus missiles, he got a lock on the core and fired. The core of the craft exploded right as he exited out the back of the Aigaion.

"It's been destroyed!" Phoenix yelled.

The whole formation of planes watched as the Aigaion's left wing split from the craft at the left wing root as the whole craft plummeted into the Atlantic.

"Now that the Heavy Command Cruiser has been destroyed, we have a huge chance at taking Rio back. All aircraft, return to base." Talon said.


	10. One Final Effort

**A/N: Zero hour is upon us. The Battle for Rio is fast approaching, and the Allied forces are advancing quickly. However, the enemy forces aren't willing to give up so easily. They won't go down without a fight. So it's up to the Allied forces to put a stop to them. **

**Again, to all of those who are reading this, please check out Rapture At Sea's new story The Warrior From Cydonia. It may be the single best story that he has ever put on the Archive. It seriously deserves more attention than it's getting. Don't even begin to call yourself a fan of Rapture's work until you've read this story. I have this personal mission to see that this mind-blowing story finally gets the respect and attention that it rightfully deserves. Anyway, I'm sorry that this had to be said, but It needs to be.**

**~Brazilian Highlands~**

**[Sergeant Louis McKnight]**

**[United States Army, 3rd Corps, 1st Brigade, 1st Tank Battalion]**

**[Halcyon Separate Tank Battalion]**

"Alright men, today we'll be tasked to the Brazilian Highlands to clear out the enemy forces from the area, and ensure a clear path for the Allied forces to Rio. We'll be facing heavy resistance, so expect to see them fighting to the last man. We also have intel that they are being supplied with Russian military tech, so don't be surprised if you see Russian T-90 tanks out there. We'll be fighting in an area that has little cover, so make you first shot count. We don't need any unnecessary deaths out there."

"Today we'll bring the fight closer to the enemy than we've ever done. Were going to punch a hole straight through their defenses and wipe the floor with the rest of them. After that, it's a straight shot right to Rio. Were going to make sure that those scumbags regret ever setting foot in our country!"

"Hooah!" McKnight yelled.

"HOOAH!" The battalion under his command responded.

"Then let's make today the most miserable day of their pathetic little lives!"

"YES SIR!"

"Then what are you waiting for, let's get out there and show them the door once and for all!"

"Let's move out."

The members of Halcyon Battalion all entered into their assigned M1 Abrams tanks, and proceeded to the engagement area. The air outside was thick with dust, making visual referencing all but impossible. The only way that they could see where they were going was through the infrared viewfinders inside the tank. And as if the dust wasn't bad enough, the unbearable heat hammered down on the heavy metal of the tank, searing anything unfortunate enough to come in contact with it.

The armored column of tanks slowly continued their trek towards the battlefield, the constant monotonous clacking of the treads on the tanks filling everyone's ears.

As they came up on a ridge, the lead tank slowed to a stop, the rest soon following. The turret on the lead tank swung 90 degrees to the west, and then swung 180 degrees to the east, checking for any possible signs of hostile activity. After determining that the area was clear, the lead tank started back up, and proceeded down the ridge, soon followed by the others.

For forty five minutes, this was the routine, climb a ridge, stop, check for hostiles, then proceed. The crew members in the tanks were now getting restless. No matter how hard they looked, there were absolutely no signs of any hostile activity.

"McKnight, do you even think that were in the right area?" A fellow tank driver asked as they went over yet another ridge.

"We've got to be. This is the area that the intel said they would be."

"Well, it looks like your intel might be off. I'm not seeing any-" However, he was cut off as a 120mm shell tore straight through his tank, destroying it.

"SHIT, AMBUSH!"

A mass of T-90 tanks began advancing on them while keeping suppressive fire on them.

"BACK UP, BACK UP, BACK UP!" McKnight yelled.

The whole column of tanks tried desperately to back up. However, more explosions were heard off in the distance, only to have artillery shells explode right at their position.

"Dammit, they're using artillery on us!" McKnight yelled.

"McKnight, where's it coming from?!" Another driver asked.

"I can't tell. They could be any where. Switch to thermal optics!"

All of the tank commanders followed the order, and switched their optics set to thermal, allowing them to see through the thick clouds of dust and smoke.

"There! Up on the ridge line to the east, two klicks away."

Sure enough, as McKnight swung his turret around, he could see eight self-propelled artillery vehicles on the ridge, aiming right at them.

"HQ, this is Thunder 1-1, we have eyes on a group of artillery vehicles on a ridge line. Requesting Fire Support Mission. Over." McKnight said.

"Thunder 1-1, Fire Support Mission is a go. We have an AC-130 Gunship in the area, callsign Spooky 01, it'll be there in about 5 mikes. Hold out until then."

"Okay men, we need to hold out until air support arrives. They'll be here in five minutes. Focus your attention on those T-90's for now." McKnight said.

"This is Thunder 4-2, I've got eyes on three T90's approaching from the southeast."

"Copy, 4-2 you're cleared to engage. 4-3 and 4-4 assist 4-2 in taking out those tanks."

"Solid copy McKnight."

The three tanks' turrets swung to the southeast and set their sights on the T-90's. Three concussive booms rattled the area, sending a shockwave emanating out of the barrel, along with 120mm of high explosive coated in tungsten. Two seconds later, the shells connected precisely with their targets, culminating into a 3000 degree inferno around the tanks.

"Two more to the southwest."

McKnight and Thunder 2-1 immediately turned the barrels of their turrets directly at the two lone tanks.

"FIRE!" McKnight yelled.

Two more shells of supersonic high explosive impacted their targets, torching them and rendering them inoperable.

"Ha-ha, I could do this all day!"

However, an artillery shell impacted an Abrams tank directly on the top of the turret, crippling it.

"Dammit, 2-3's been hit! HQ, where is that AC-130?!" McKnight asked.

"It should be entering your airspace now."

"Ah, I see it. Spooky 01, we've got eyes on multiple self-propelled artillery vehicles 2 klicks east from our current position. Requesting CAS mission."

"Thunder 1-1, this is Spooky 01, CAS mission is approved, fire for effect."

The AC-130 banked its left wing at a 30 degree angle and began circling the area, thus allowing the gunship's weapons to be able to hit its intended targets. Five loud booms resonated through the air as the gunship's 40mm cannon did its job. With three vehicles left, the gunship switched to the massive 120mm howitzer and aimed it in the middle of the vehicles. Less than a second later, a massive boom split the air in two, followed by an enormous explosion where the artillery used to be.

"Good effect on targets, they're down."

"Hell yeah, that takes care of them!" McKnight said as he began looking into his viewfinder.

"...Dear God..."

Directly to the south of them was a battalion of forty plus T-90's and Russian Su-25 attacker planes advancing on their position.

"We don't have the firepower to take them out. HQ, requesting air support and bombing run on grid Sierra-Delta three niner." McKnight hurriedly said.

"Thunder 1-1, we hear you. We have a squadron of B-1 Lancers en route to your area, ETA 10 minutes. Were also going to scramble the Arara Team and Gryphus One. You're going to have to wait until then."

"Alright men, you heard him. Keep your heads up and your asses down. Stick to defensive maneuvers, and don't give the enemy a chance to take you out." McKnight ordered.

###

**~Off the coast of Vitoria - USS Ronald Reagan~**

"Arara Team, Gryphus One, our boys out there need support, and you're going to be the ones to give it to them. Any questions?"

"No sir!"

"Then get out there, and make sure to not leave a single one standing!"

"Yes sir!"

All three pilots boarded their F-22's, and prepared to egress to the combat zone.

"All planes, your cleared for take-off. Rendezvous at Nav point Echo, and meet up with the squadron of B-1's, callsign Razor."

With that, the three planes took off to the west towards the combat zone.

###

**~Nav Point Echo~**

"Thunder 1-1, this is Arara One, we've arrived just outside of the combat area. Were on standby for your tasking."

"Thank God. We have squadron of Su-25's and a battalion of T-90's that are giving us a helluva time. Requesting you to take them out for us."

"Copy that. Engaging Russian attack aircraft at your command."

The weapon bay doors on the bottom of Phoenix's Raptor swung open, allowing 4 AMRAAM missiles to drop out and destroy their targets.

"Thunder 1-1, all attack craft have been destroyed."

"Alright, now all that leaves are the hostile tanks. Razor, requesting bombing run on the hostile tank battalion."

"Copy that, leave it to us."

Three B-1's screamed past Halcyon Battalion and straight for the enemy tanks. As the bombers approached, the bomb bay doors on the underside of the bombers opened, revealing the explosive payload. As they reached the IP (Initial Point) of the attack run, they released all 40,000 pounds of bombs combined. The ground below them was engulfed in a massive fireball and ensuing inferno. When the smoke finally dissipated, the resulting carnage was proof that the allies had won.

However, a previously unnoticed squadron of planes appeared on the radar soon after. It was the Segador Squadron.

Talon then came on the comms with a mission update.

"All forces, Mission Command has ordered us to retreat. All forces, cease fire and break away from this area."

"This is no time to screw around Talon." Osprey replied.

"This is no joke. I'll say it again, cease fire!"

"Our city's under attack here. You cant expect us to abandon our people!" Osprey said.

"CEASE FIRE NOW! I REPEAT, CEASE FIRE NOW!"

"If I could just kill off this unit, we could get back home." Osprey replied.

"Don't you see what's happening here? Comply with your order."

"I'm putting an end to this war today!"

"Osprey, are you listening to me? You're in a lot of trouble here, CEASE FIRE!" Talon said, growing agitated.

However, there was no response. Osprey had shut down all of his radio equipment, preventing anyone from contacting him.

Phoenix was deeply divided on who to follow. He was unsure whether to help his wingman, or to follow the order form AWACS. In the end, he decided to help Osprey with the Segador Squadron. The two squadrons became engulfed in an endless dogfight. However, as time dragged on, the Segador Squadron slowly began to lose its edge. One by one, their planes were shot down, until there was one left, and he too was shot down.

"All planes are down! Now we can finally get back home!" Osprey said optimistically.

"You've made a huge mistake. There's no getting around a penalty for this." Talon quietly said.

**A/N: The Allied forces are practically on the doorstep of Rio, and the Battle for Rio is just around the corner. However, there's one problem. Some of you might wonder why they Allies were supposed to retreat. The answer will be discovered in the next chapter, and it'll put the Allied forces in a tough situation.  
**


	11. Weapons of Mass Destruction

**A/N: The Battle of Rio is in ONE chapter! However, there is one major problem that the Allies must solve. If they don't, then all of the previous operations were for nothing. If the Allies want any chance of reclaiming Rio, then they better not screw this up.**

**~USS Ronald Reagan Crew Quarters~**

"Suspended from active duty?! I can't believe this!" Osprey yelled.

"Well, you did defy a direct order from AWACS." Phoenix remarked.

"Why did we even have to retreat in the first place?"

"You two didn't hear? Apparently the Argentine military is planning on using WMD's on Rio." Cypher said.

"WHAT!?" The two of them replied, shocked at the string of words that they just heard.

"Come on, you'll find out more at the briefing."

**~USS Ronald Reagan Briefing Room~**

"Everyone, I've got some good news." The Admiral of the Reagan said.

"The chemical agent used as a catalyst for their WMD is being transported to Rio from the Argentine mainland. This catalyst has already been carried past the border of Brazil. As a measure of caution against any attempts to destroy it, it has been concealed in Forteleza Canyon, to the West of Rio. If we start advancing again, the enemy will most likely bring the catalyst into Rio at a faster pace. If in fact weapons of mass destruction are used on the population of Rio, the resulting devastation can't be expressed in enough words. It will lead to unspeakable tragedies."

"How in the hell is this good news?!" Osprey asked, almost yelling.

"Well, we've used this intelligence to come up with a solid proposal on how to prevent this scorched earth policy from being executed in our capital. Just a minute ago, we received a letter of approval for our prevention plans from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The proposal we put on the table for the scorched earth prevention policy is really quite simple. While the enemy transport unit is stationed at Forteleza Canyon, we'll ambush them. We like to call it our tactic for pre-emptive victory. The enemy has loaded this catalyst into their transport vehicles and is able to send them into Rio at any time. This plan will be carried out by a handful of our top pilots under absolute secrecy. Fly through Forteleza Canyon at an extremely low altitude to avoid radar detection, and take out those transport vehicles. We've determined that a high risk mission of this magnitude could not be executed by anyone other than Arara Team. We're counting on a flawless execution here. That is all."

"So you're putting us in charge of this mission?" Phoenix asked, surprised by their decision.

"That's correct. Now, you need to get ready, we don't have a large window of opportunity to pull this off." The Admiral finished.

**~USS Reagan Flight Deck~**

"Arara Team, you're cleared for take off. Don't disappoint us."

"Copy that, Arara One and Two egressing to combat airspace." Phoenix said.

The two Pratt and Whitney PW-F119-100 turbofans in Phoenix's F-22 roared to life, bringing a visible cone of blue and yellow fire with it. Soon after, Osprey's F-22 came online, ready for the mission ahead. When they both reached the necessary required thrust, the steam driven catapult on the forward deck of the Reagan sling-shotted them off into the air, and towards their destination.

**~Forteleza Canyon~**

"Beginning attack on the enemy's WMD catalyst, fly in low. If your spotted by an enemy observation facility, destroy all facilities as quickly as possible." AWACS said.

"Some people never pray to God unless they're in a lot of trouble, and were only called 'aces' when people need us to bail them out. We're not a couple of private dancers for the military you know." Osprey remarked.

"If we fail this mission, your families back in Rio will be in great danger." AWACS replied.

"You're just as bad Talon. I can't believe you've got the nerve to try to join up with ud again."

"That bird emblem…What's it doing here?" McKnight asked.

"Donnie, it's me. Take cover behind those trees, don't even let our guys know your location." McKnight said.

As the Arara team banked around a ridge, an enemy observation facility came into view.

"There's not much time, Phoenix, hit the throttle!"

"Unknown target acquired, I repeat, unknown target acquired! Deploy in type one battle formation." An Argentine soldier on the ground said.

However, Arara team reacted quickly, and destroyed all of the facilities.

"All enemy observation facilities have been destroyed, Arara Team, get moving!" AWACS said.

Arara Team procceded to fly further into the canyon, being vigilant as to not be detected.

"That lucky dog. Looks like our 'guest' is out of harm's way." McKnight said,

As they rounded another ridge, there was a second group of facilities in their way.

"Hurry! It's all over the second we let them make contact with the transport squad!" Osprey said.

"What air band is the transport unit on? 3-2-5…You idiot, I can't hear you, get over here!" An Argentine ground soldier said.

"Dammit, there's too much noise! Something's interfering!" Another soldier said.

Unfortunately, they weren't fast enough in contacting the transports in time, and all of their radio equipment was destroyed.

Arara Team flew even further into the canyon, stumbling upon a third group of facilities.

"How did enemy fighters get in here? Did they trigger that vibration?" A radio operator said.

"Take out any enemies you encounter. The transport squad can't know we're coming!" Osprey said.

The third group of facilities fared no better than the first two. All of their facilities were also destroyed, preventing any contact between them and the transports.

As they turned into the final part of the canyon, the transport unit came into view.

"I've spotted the catalyst transport unit. Now all we have to do is take them out! Osprey said.

The two aircraft dropped four AGM-65 Maverick missiles at the vehicles, annihilating them.

"Enemy transport unit destroyed! Looks like you just redeemed yourselves!" AWACS said.

"All in a day's work for Arara Team. Osprey and I make a great team." Phoenix said.

"Leave the combat zone and get back to base! You'll have time to celebrate once your back." AWACS said enthusiastically.

"And you'll have a party waiting for us right? It'll be a nice change from all that lip service." Osprey jokingly said.

"Enemy forces are still in the vicinity. Stay on alert until you get back." Talon responded.

"Enemy fighters incoming." Talon said.

Phoenix and osprey both looked around and saw what he meant.

"This is a manageable number." Phoenix said.

As they kept flying out of the combat airspace, more enemy aircraft appeared.

"Warning, enemy presence detected on radar!" Talon warned.

"Dammit! You've got to be kidding me!" Osprey said as they both saw at least 10 more planes in front of them.

The two continued to flee from the growing presence of enemy planes, but they were soon stopped dead in their tracks.

"More enemy fighters spotted on radar! There's a ton of them! A WHOLE battalion!" Talon said.

"I guess I got my hopes up too soon. Oh well. Let's get this over with!" Osprey said.

"Looks like your gonna have to face the music. Eliminate those enemy planes!"

It was hardly a fair fight though. It was just Phoenix and Osprey against at least 50 planes.

The two of them were almost immediately forced on the defensive by the seemingly insurmountable amount of fighters all hell bent on killing them. Minute by minute, the two of them were slowly losing their drive to continue the fight. They were beginning to lose hope that they would ever see the fruits of their labor come to fruition. However, just as all hope had seemed lost, a voice came over the radio.

"Arara Team, come in. I'm here for you!" Ozone said.

And then another.

"Arara Team, thought you could use some cover!" Cypher said

And yet another.

"Arara Team, this is Gryphus, looks like we're having your party right here.

As the two of them looked to the northwest, they could see a mass of reinforcements entering the fray, ready to help out their fellow squadron.

"I'll be damned. Looks like we got an all-star cast lined up for this performance. Thanks guys." Osprey said.

The battle soon took a dramatic turn as the allied squadrons soon overpowered the hostiles. The two mass of aircraft tangled with each other in the sky, each trying to gain the upper hand. Unfortunately for the hostile aircraft, the Allies brought more than enough reinforcements into the conflict. As the battle drug on, more and more hostile planes went plummeting towards the ground, until eventually the last one went down.

"All of the planes are down! Our next stop is Rio. It looks like this war is finally almost over!" Osprey said.

"All enemy forces have been eliminated! Excellent job! All planes, return to the Reagan so we can get ready our biggest operation yet. Next stop is Rio!" Talon said, the excitement in his voice showing.

**A/N: This marks the end of this chapter, which means that the Liberation of Rio is just on the horizon. I can't wait for it.**

**Now there's nothing in the way of the Allied forces to keep them from returning to their city. And now that the WMD problem has been dealt with, the Allies can advance at an even faster rate than before. And soon the key battle will be upon us all.**


	12. The Liberation of Rio

**A/N: It's finally here! The Liberation of Rio is now! The Allied forces have been waiting a long time for this to happen. And now, the day has finally arrived. The penultimate battle that will decide which country wins will be decided today. Also, for those of you wondering about Blu and Jewel, they will be returning in this chapter and remain in subsequent chapters. By the way, I apologize for the delay. I came uncomfortably close to not graduating from high school, but I fixed it, and my graduation is assured. Damn senior fines! June 5th, here I come!**

**This chapter contains two OC's generously donated by another author here on FanFiction. I'd like to personally thank Toltec Spirit (Rapture At Sea) for letting me use them in my story. Anyway, you probably would want me to stop droning on, and let you read this chapter, so here's the Liberation of Rio!**

**Sorry, one more thing. If you listen to the song, The Liberation of Gracemeria during the battle, it will definitely bring the mood.**

**~USS Ronald Reagan Briefing Room~**

"At last our day has come." The Admiral said.

"Initiate Operation Free Rio. All forces, advance into the city. Enemy forces have thoroughly besieged the city. I'm sure that we'll be running into some heavy resistance. We have four operations that we will concentrate on: a naval invasion following the flagship Battlecruiser Galveston and Cruiser Anzio, recapturing Galaeo International Airport with the Halcyon Tank Battalion, recapturing the central city with the Barracuda Tank Battalion, and finally, securing air supremacy. This is the last battle. Let's win this thing and go home!"

"HOORAH!" Everyone said.

**~5 Nautical Miles south of Guanabara Bay~**

"We're approaching Guanabara Bay at a steady pace. We'll be meeting up with the hostile fleet shortly." Admiral Baskov said.

"All ships, this is the Anzio, Take out all hostile ships you see. Don't let any survive!" Major Kamarov said.

The US/Brazilian fleet advanced towards the bay, all of their cannons facing north towards their targets. The Argentine fleet soon appeared on the horizon, ready and waiting for the Allies.

"ALL SHIPS, ENGAGE!" Baskov said.

At that moment, a barrage of high velocity metal and explosives thundered out of the main guns, delivering an explosive message to its intended target. In this case, it was an Argentine Destroyer, the General Roca.

"We've taken a large hit to the starboard side of the ship! She's listing! We' can't stay on any longer!" An Argentine naval officer yelled.

However, an Argentine cruiser, the Trelew, began a retaliatory attack on the Galveston, the fleet's flagship. However, the Trelew severely underestimated the power of the Galveston. Once the Galveston had the hostile ship in its crosshairs, it fired its 12 inch cannons at the cruiser, striking it right on the bridge, and effectively cutting off all control to the ship.

After that moment, an Argentine destroyer, the Rawson, managed to get a direct hit on the USS San Antonio, disabling it and putting it out of action.

"The San Antonio's taken a hit!" Kamarov said.

"All ships, spread out to avoid the enemy attack." Baskov said.

Seconds later, another US ship, the USS Belknap, took a severe hit to the port side, flooding the ship.

"Okay, this ends now. All ships, terminate any ship that you see flying an Argentine flag with extreme prejudice!"

"Copy that sir."

What then ensued after that order was nothing short of pure hell raining down on the Argentine fleet blocking the bay. A hostile destroyer, the Viedma, had a massive explosion rock the side of the hull, allowing water to flood the interior of the ship, while another shell caused the bridge of the ship to explode in a massive fireball.

Farther behind, the USS New Jersey Battleship was launching off shell after shell towards the hostile fleet from its enormous 19 inch guns. This caused a living hell for anything in its way, and usually whatever did get hit just simply evaporated. The New Jersey scored five direct hits on the hostile Battlecruiser Rojas, splitting the ship in half just behind the halfway point of the ship. Within five minutes, all of the ships guarding the bay were either crippled or sinking.

"Our enemies at sea have been destroyed! All ships, start moving into the bay!"

Following the order, The Allied fleet began making its way into the bay, passing the threshold of the President Costa E. Silva causeway. As the American and Brazilian combined fleet made it past the causeway, they came upon an even larger group of ships inside Guanabara Bay, including an Admiral Kuznetsov Class aircraft carrier aptly named the Buenos Aires. Among the the ships assigned to protect it were the Battleship Rosario and Heavy Cruiser Cordoba. Scattered around the three main ships were an assortment of smaller cruisers and destroyers. However, they enemy forces had actionable intel on the Allied forces as well.

"Their command ship is the Galveston. Aim for the Galveston!"

"Enemy command ship Galveston spotted. Opening fire."

The Heavy Cruiser Cordoba had it's sight trained on th Galveston, and open up with a volley of rockets. However, since the rockets were unguided, none of them managed to hit their intended target.

An Allied cruiser quickly took advantage of the situation and launched a Mk. 82 torpedo at the Cordoba. During its 15 second underwater journey, the Mk. 82 oriented itself to strike the Cordoba right in the middle of its keel. When it did, the titanium plated armor of the ship proved no match to the destructive power of the torpedo, and the Cordoba was split in half and sent to cold depths of the bottom of Guanabara Bay.

"Stop that American fleet at all costs! We're being overrun!"

"We can't! We've lost too many ships!"

"I don't care. We'll fight to the bitter bloody end if we have to."

Meanwhile, ten miles south of the main naval force were the two ships overseeing the whole operation: The USS Ronald Reagan and the USS George W. Bush. From these two ships, every movement and decision was made through these two vessels, and towards the fleet. On the Reagan, two F-35's were preparing to provide an extra advantage to the Allied fleet.

"Seahawk 1-1 and Seahawk 1-2, you're cleared for carrier departure. You're cleared to engage upon entering the engagement zone, and Godspeed."

"This is Seahawk 1-1, we copy and confirm."

The two F-35's rocketed off of the deck towards the chaos to the north. After a brief two minute flight, Seahawk flight arrived at the combat area, ready to give support.

"Galveston, this is Seahawk 1-1, we're establishing overwatch and are ready for tasking on your command."

"1-1, this is Galveson, we have two hostile ships left, engage and destroy at your discretion."

"Galveston, 1-1 and 1-2 copy. engaging as directed."

Both F-35's dropped an AGM-84H SLAM-ER (Standoff Land Attack Missile - Expanded Response) towards the hostile Battleship Rosario. After a thirty second flight, both missiles struck the ship on the starboard side, opening up massive holes in its side, causing it to take on water rapidly.

"Galveston, this is 1-1, we've confirmed a clean hit. Switching attack to enemy's flagship, the Buenos Aires."

The two aircraft switched weapons to AGM-65 Maverick missiles and fired them at the carrier. However, when the missiles were about 150 feet of the carrier, they exploded harmlessly in midair, amidst a hailstorm of Phalanx fire.

"They're using Phalanx Gatling close-in guns. Galveston, Anzio, this is Seahawk 1-1, requesting a saturation attack on the hostile aircraft carrier."

"1-1, this is the Anzio, copy that, we'll support you any way we can."

"Seahawk flight, this is Galveston, we've got your backs."

"Copy that. Beginning saturation attacks!"

While the Anzio and Galveston were busy suppressing the Phalanx fire with rockets, Seahawk flight flew at a mere 10 feet above the surface of the bay, ready to unleash their ordinance. When they were 1000 feet from the hostile aircraft carrier, the both released the rest of their anti-ship weapons. Five seconds after the launched their weapons, impact after impact rocked the Buenos Aires, along with the Phalanx system being shut down from the damage. However, even though the carrier was on its last legs, it still wouldn't go down.

"Galveston, this is Seahawk flight. We're all out of weapons. Can you finish the job for us?"

"Seahawk, this is Galveston. We'll be glad to."

After that statement, three Tomahawk cruise missiles left the Galveston and flew straight towards the crippled ship. At the moment of impact, the bridge of the ship broke away from the carrier, and the rest of the ship succumbed to the damage, resulting in a massive tear along the flight deck, splitting it in two.

"We've secured Guanabara Bay! We'll now shift to a landing operation for our ground forces."

Following the role shift, a mass of LCAC hovercraft units left the two aircraft carriers that had arrived in the bay to transport the tanks required to secure the city. The first group to disembark on the shore was the Halcyon Tank Battalion, led by Sergeant McKnight. Before they began, McKnight gave the battalion a quick sitrep.

"Alright men, we're here to take back the airport here so our flyboys can use it when they need to resupply. After that, we hold back all enemy assaults that might come our way. We need this airport, and we're taking it TODAY! NOW LET'S MOVE OUT!"

"YES SIR!"

The Halcyon Battalion procceded along the streets toward their intended destination. However, the route that they had to take was directly through the city surrounding the airport, making every street a hazardous CQC and CQB threat.

"All tanks, keep your eyes glued on those rooftops, and watch the windows. These bastards could be hiding anywhere."

As the tanks continued along the narrow streets, shadows could be seen darting between windows, and the sound of people running could be heard as well, making the whole area seem like a ghost town.

"Good Lord, this place is starting to scare the crap out of me. It reminds me of those stories that I've heard about Pripyat." Thunder 2-3 said.

"Hooah." 2-4 replied.

Just then, a very distinct whistling sound could be heard, followed by the sound of metal being torn apart.

"RPG'S!"

"Where? I can't see them!"

"Look around! They've got to be somewhere!"

Another RPG was then fired, impacting another tank and destroying it.

"There, up in that building!"

"I can't hit it! The turret won't go up that high!"

"Then level the damn thing! Fire at its foundation!"

Hearing the order, the tanks swung their turrets toward the bottom of the building, and layed shell after shell into it, until the structural integrity of the building was too weak, and it collapsed under its own weight. The resulting dust cloud only reaffirmed them that they had taken the building out. When they determined that there was no further threat, the tanks started up again, and began moving.

"Alright men, we're almost there. All we've got to do is make it to the perimeter of the airport and mop up all of the hostile armor in it."

As the tanks made it to the outside of Galaeo International, they were greeted by a surprise of 40 or so tanks, all tasked with preventing the fall of the airport into allied hands.

"Shit! There's no way that we can take them out."

"Don't worry 1-3, I've got a plan. We'll use the M-109 Paladins. From the looks of it, they have no way to counter our artillery, so the Paladins will work wonders on their forces." McKnight explained.

"Okay. So with that in mind, what's the plan of attack?" 1-3 asked.

"I'm glad you asked. Here's what we'll do. We'll have the Paladins provide suppressive fire on the hostile armor, and while their still confused and trying to find out what to do, we'll sneak around and ambush them from the sides and the rear." McKnight explained further.

"Got it."

"Alright men, let's move out!"

As the group of M1A1 Abrams tanks moved towards the airport, the M-109's all deployed into their long range firing mode. After they finished deploying, they input the targeting parameters, including target type, distance, elevation, wind speed, and muzzle velocity, among other things. Once every variable had been accounted for, the Paladins unleashed a barrage of artillery shells onto their targets.

While the Paladins were busy distracting the hostile armor, McKnight's battalion was approaching the enemy's flanks, ready to attack. Caught off guard by the constant barrage of 155mm shells and the disorientation and confusion that they caused, they were unaware of the Allied tanks approaching on their position.

"Fire, Fire, Fire!" McKnight ordered.

Before the hostile tanks could even react, at least twenty-five of them instantly vanished behind a veil of fire and smoke as a mass of concussive explosions and a menagerie of anti-tank shells filled the air. Seeing that their demise was all but assured, the crew members of the remaining hostile tanks gave up, and surrendered to the Allied forces. Seeing that their plea for mercy and diplomacy was legitimate, McKnight's forces disarmed them, and took them into Allied control, thus signaling that Galeao International had been secured.

"Now that we have the airport under Allied control. we'll have the Barracuda Battalion help secure the city." Admiral Baskov said from the Reagan.

Minutes later, more LCAC hovercraft units departed from the aircraft carriers, and headed towards the mainland. They were to disembark at Ipanema beach, proceed through the area, arrive at the Copacabana district, and head north to secure the city center.

"We'll be disembarking in thirty seconds! All tanks, get ready!" Andrew Gallagher, the leader of Barracuda, yelled.

At the moment that the hovercrafts hit the shore, the tanks were already on their way off of them, and on their way towards Ipanema. As the group of armored vehicles entered the area, they were quite surprised as to what they saw, or didn't see, for that matter. The district of Ipanema looked for the most part, completely untouched, with no human activity to be seen. It was almost as if everyone had simply got up and left. There wasn't any wildlife to be heard either. The usual sightings of tropical birds were nonexistent as well. The area was simply devoid of all signs of life, save for the men inside the tanks advancing along the coastline.

"What happened here? This place is usually crawling with people. There's no one here." Hammer 2-1 said, surprised as to the desolance of the area.

Thinking nothing further of it besides what might lay ahead, the column of tanks proceeded smoothly along the shore, until they reached the Avenue Atlantica. When they reached the street, they proceeded north on Avenue Atlantica, towards the Copacabana district.

"Wow! I never thought I'd see tanks advancing down this street. It's like a scene from a movie." Gallagher commented.

"Heh, you got that right. Wait, what are they doing up ahead?" 2-1 responded.

"What the hell?! Their using the street as a runway!"

"Well, what do you say we give our guys up in the air a hand, and take out these aircraft before they can take off?" Gallagher said.

Heeding the message, the group of armored vehicles double timed it to the location where the enemy's "runway" was. Seeing a golden opportunity to inflict substantial damage to the enemy's war fighting effort, the advancing battalion made their way towards the area, all the while firing shells onto them to prevent them from taking off. Because of the danger of trying to fly through the heavy bombardment, most of the pilots didn't risk taking off. However, some of them did, and a few of them actually made it, but not before most of their allied aircraft were destroyed. Those that did manage to take off immediately set their sights on the tanks, hell bent on avenging what had happened.

"Everyone, take cover between the buildings! We'll advance through them to our destination." Gallagher ordered.

With the tanks now safely behind substantial amounts of cover, the pilots who were attcking them gave up on them, seeing as how their opportunity was now lost. Not wanting to take any chances, the tanks stuck with these streets, and advanced onwards. The journey to the city center was surprisingly uneventful, with only sporadic firefights and skirmishes in random areas. what was even more shocking was the fact that the area in which they were supposed to secure was empty. There were absolutely no signs of the enemy anywhere.

"Uhh...AWACS, this is Barracuda leader. We're showing no signs of the enemy in the central area of the city. You're cleared for go-ahead of the final operation. Gallagher out."

As the victory over the final Battle of Rio came onto the horizon, the only thing in the way was securing air superoirity over the city. Only then could true victory be established. Ready to ensure the Allied victory were Arara, Abutre, Falcao, Gryphus, and as always, Talon.

However, a large formation of Su-35's and Su-37's were hell bent on stopping the Allies in their tracks, and protecting their county's claims. They would see to the bitter end that the Allies lose this engagement. Unfortunately, the Allied forces were undeterred.

"All aircraft, engage! Pound the Hell out of them!" Talon said.

Needing no further instruction, the Allied panes dove into the fray against the Russian aircraft. However, the Russian Sukhois were a fair match for the American F-22's. Each aircraft was able to nimbly outmaneuver each other, only to fall victim to another pursuer. For what seemed forever, no side was able to gain the upper hand. However, the F-22's had one major advantage: thrust vectoring.

Utilizing this advantage, the Allies quickly tipped the scales of the battle in their favor. As the battle drug on, more and more hostile planes were downed. Seeing this, the enemy planes resorted to ramming the Allied fighters in suicidal kamikaze attacks. This tactic was in vain though. The Argentine military had lost too many forces, and eventually the last plane was downed, ensuring the Allied victory.

"We've won! I can't believe it!"

"We took it back!"

"It's finally ours again!"

These were the celebratory shouts from not just the tropps, but from the entire civilian population as well. Throughout the entire city, people were celebrating. And the news of the victory spread quickly, not just across the city, but across the whole country as well.

###

**~Jewel's First Person POV~**

When I left the unconscious world of the dream realm, and entered the conscious world of reality, I noticed that I had woken up much later than normal, most likely due to the fact that we're being affected by this. Blu appeared to have woken up much earlier than I did, and he was watching over me as he always did. Rico was also awake, however he was listening to something that I could not discern. For some reason, all three of us had a... feeling, that today was going to be different, and I couldn't put a talon on it as to why. I was about to find out why.

Throughout the small city of Sao Luis, shouts such as "We got Rio back!" and "We've won!" reverberated across the city. It didn't take Blu's intelligence for me to understand what it meant: Blu and I can go home. Unfortunately for Blu, these shouts were in Portuguese, so he couldn't understand the significance of their meaning. It didn't take long for Blu to ask me what they were saying, and when I told him in English his eyes filled with excitement.

"So, this means that we can go home... right?" Blu asked rhetorically.

"Of course." I answered.

"Rico, are you coming with us?" I asked as I turned in his direction.

"Yeah, I'm coming. There's no need to ask me twice." He replied.

"C'mon, lets get to the airport." Blu said as he lifted off.

I cringed at the mentioning of the word 'airport'. Airport means airplanes, and I haven't had much of a liking for airplanes after our run in with the smugglers, and what happened to me on my first time on an airplane. However, if it wasn't for me falling out of said airplane, Blu and I would never had fallen in love. so I guess I can set my fear aside for now.

Apparently time had escaped my focus, because as I finished my thoughts, we had just arrived at the airport, and were looking for a military plane. We quickly found one this time, and boarded it just as quick. As our flight back to Rio started, I began thinking about the future of Blu and I. However, I was soon cut off by Blu asking me a question.

"Hey Jewel... did you ever tell me what happened to your family?" He asked innocently.

I guess this would have come up eventually, seeing as how I had only told him that humans had taken everything from me. So I guess now I would tell him. Pulling distant memories from the depths of my mind, I began recalling what had happened.

"So it was just any other day. My dad had left to get breakfast for us, and my mom was watching over me and my two sisters. Seeing as how I was the youngest, she paid close attention to me. However, when my dad didn't return when he had planned to, my mom decided to go and find her."

I stopped to recollect more of the story, and I noticed that Blu was completely riveted on my story.

"I went to go see where she went, and then I heard a blood curling scream. It was her...followed by gunshots. Since I was the youngest, my two sisters told me to stay in the hollow while they went out. Out of curiosity, I went to the rim of the hollow to look at what was going on, and when I saw what happened...

...

I ran."

...

"They'd killed my mother because she was trying to save my dad, and now my sisters were trying to save them. I couldn't believe I was losing everything I loved so quickly. It still pains me to this day to think about it."

As I lowered my head in remembrance of my family, Blu, being the soft-hearted and caring bird that he was, walked over to me and wrapped me in his wings.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you Jewel. No one should ever have to go through that." He said in the most sincere and caring tone.

Since we were on the topic, I decided to ask about his family, seeing as how he never mentioned them.

"What about your family Blu? What happened to them?" I asked.

"My family? I... I never knew my family. I was too young to remember my mom and dad, and I was smuggled out of Rio before I ever got a chance to know and love them. So... you're the closest thing I have to a family." Blu said with sadness in his voice.

I truly felt bad for Blu at this point. At least I actually grew up with loving parents. Blu never even met his parents, and that fact made me feel pity for him in the highest magnitude.

"I guess... what happened in the past can't be reversed, no matter how much you and I both want it. But we should look more to the future." Blu said with hint of hope.

After that statement, we were left in a reflective silence. One that I wish would last a while...

But unfortunately, the real world doesn't operate that way. Our silence was shattered as an alarm in the cockpit of the plane blared, carrying along with it a monotone voice repeatedly stating 'WARNING'. I didn't know what it meant, but I was about to find out.

Not more than three seconds later, a massive bang was heard outside of the aircraft, followed by a violent shaking, and then we immediately entered freefall. I knew without question what was happening...

... We were going down.

I overheard the pilots in the cockpit yelling to someone, and I assumed it was an airport controller.

"Mayday, Mayday! Ground control, this is Echo four-two-niner heavy! We've been hit by a missile! We're losing altitude fast! Requesting heading to nearest airport for emergency landing!"

While I heard this, I looked over to Blu. There was a maelstrom of emotions in his eyes: fear, panic, and terror, to name a few. I ran over to him to help comfort him, but both of our eyes widened in horror when we heard the cockpit warning system voice change messages from 'SINK RATE, PULL UP!' to 'TERRAIN WARNING, TERRAIN WARNING!'.

Blu and I both looked each other in the eyes and kissed each other one final time, for we both knew that we weren't going to survive. When we broke the kiss, we prepared for the inevitable rush of death to overcome us...

**A/N: So how was it? This was by far the longest chapter I've written so far, and it looks really good from my perspective. The perspective that really matters is yours though. Drop a review, and tell me your thoughts on it. The war is now over, but have Blu and Jewel survived?**


	13. The Journey Home

**A/N: Its been way too long of a delay between Chapter 12 and Chapter 13, I know. I've had computer trouble, so I really have only been able to access FanFiction from my iPod. In fact, the bulk of this chapter is written mostly from my iPod. So, if there's any obvious mistakes, please blame my iPod, because it has active spell check enabled.**

**I know those if you who are reading this are probably chomping at the bit to find out what has become of our beloved macaws, so I'll just wrap up this Author's Note, and let you enjoy this chapter.**

**~Jewel's First Person POV~**

Fire. That's all that I could tell was around me. Aside from that, I didn't know where I was. Even in my unconscious state, I could still feel the searing heat from the flames driven by the jet fuel baking me underneath my feathers, and that was the only way I could tell of the inferno around me.

When I finally came to, the scene in front of my eyes was like one of those descriptions of hell straight from the Bible. All around me were scattered remains of the airplane that we were riding in, now shrouded in flames and smoke. Looking away from the pure devastation in front of me, I looked inward towards myself, and what I saw frankly shocked me. Aside from a few scrapes and bruises, I was completely fine. I was bewildered at how I could come out of such a violent impact with such little harm done to me. Thinking nothing more of it, I looked to my left to see Rico coming to as well. From the looks of it, he wasn't injured too badly either; a few missing feathers and a few cuts and bruises, but nothing serious. Reassured of his and my own health, I now began to look for the one bird that mattered to me most: Blu. Seeing no sign of him in my immediate vicinity, I got onto my talons and began searching the area. With no signs of him around, I began to grow more worried.

"Blu, can you hear me?" I asked, trying to get some assurance that he was alright.

"Blu, if you can hear me, tell me where you are."

The ensuing silence after my questions only managed to highten my dread, as the realization that my Blu could have perished in the fiery crash began to sink in. "Blu, please say something!" I said as tears began to flow from my eyes. "

Hey, what's going on? Is everything okay?" Rico asked.

"No. I can't find Blu anywhere, and he's not responding to me!"

"Oh no. This isn't good."

As I began to lower my head in admittance to losing the one bird that ever cared for me, I noticed a number of familiar blue feathers lying under the smoldering remains of the wing of the plane. However, these feathers were much darker than mine. I immediately recognized them as Blu's. At the moment my brain made the connection, I sprinted over to the pile of feathers, with Rico not too far behind.

"Rico, help me lift this!"

"I got it. Don't worry."

Using the combined strength of us both, we managed to flip the piece of metal over to the opposite side of us. As I looked down to see what was under it, I could feel my heart shatter into pieces. Lying right below me was the motionless body of Blu. As I looked at his unconscious body, I noticed scarlet trails running from the corner of his beak. Looking closer at him, I could not detect any signs of life on him. His chest did not rise and fall like it should, and he wasn't moving at all. As the realization the he was gone hit me with full force, I collapsed onto his chest, and sobbed uncontrollably.

However, in the slight silence between sobs, I thought that I had heard something. Silencing myself, I listened as hard as I could. And that's when I heard it. The very faint but unmistakable beating of his heart assured me that he was still alive. However, the situation we were in struck me hard. We were in the middle of God knows where, Blu could have any number of life threatening injuries, and there's no one around here who could help Blu with said injuries.

As I looked over his body, I was shocked and yet still relieved at the extent of the damage to his body. He was not in such a critical condition as I had though, but he was still pretty messed up. The first thing that drew my attention was the damage to his wings. The left wing seemed to be completely broken, while the right wing was only slightly fractured. From the looks of it, there was only one way that he could've received those injuries. He had used his own body to protect me when we crashed, risking his own life to save me. His love and protection for me was so undying that he would've sacrificed himself just to see me live another day. But the one thing that made it matter was that he was alive. However, to my complete and utter amazement, I saw Blu's eyes open by the smallest amount. What happened next baffled me beyond anything. By some unknown source of energy, he was somehow managing to get onto his talons. Despite all of the afflictions that he had, he still managed to form a slight smile on his face, and then he slowly began to speak.

"I'm so relieved...to see that you're okay..." Blu said, his voice weak and partially strained.

"Why?" I asked, confused as to his rationality at the situation.

"Why what?" He answered.

"Why would you risk your life to save me?"

"Remember when I said...that I'd never let you go? I meant every word. And I'd do it again...if the need ever arose. I don't want to see...anything bad happen to you. That's why I did what I did."

His words truly touched me. He was readily willing do die for me. His unbreakable love for me was attested to what he had done to protect me. I was truly lucky to have someone like Blu to look after me and protect me. At one point, he didn't feel good enough to be with me, but I believe the opposite is true. Times like this make it feel like I am unworthy for someone as caring as Blu. Unfortunately, my attention turned back to Blu and his injuries. Rico was the first to comment on Blu's condition.

"We need to find help for you Blu. You're not in the best of shape right now."

"Yeah, I know. But I have no idea how far away we are from civilization. We could be hundreds of miles from Rio, or any city for that matter."

"Then what are we going to do?" I asked.

"Well, if I remember anything from American war documentaries, they'll usually send search and rescue teams for downed aircraft."

"And how long would that take?" Rico asked.

"It depends on a lot of factors: where we are, if the rescue team knows where to look, and weather, to name a few. So it could be anywhere between a few hours to a few weeks."

"So we'd have a better chance of just looking for Rio then?"

"Well...by the looks of it, we're not too far from Rio, but I obviously can't fly. Not in the condition I'm in. Again, one of my impairments is leaving you in trouble. You'd be better off leaving me here to wait for rescue and saving yourself."

"Don't think like that Blu! You know that I would never abandon you!"

"I'm sorry. It's just that something always seems to happen to me that endangers you."

"Don't worry Blu. We'll all get through this, okay? We just need to find a way to get out of here."

I noticed that Blu didn't acknowledge me, and I wondered why. I glanced over at him, and I noticed that he was looking at something. I followed his gaze and saw what he was looking at. About one hundred feet away was an unpaved dirt road. At first glance, it wasn't much, but to Blu and I, it was our salvation.

Then, almost as if a sign from a divine power, all three of us could feel the ground beneath our feet begin to rumble. Acting out of our own safety, the three of us ducked down in the brush near the side of the road. As the rumble grew louder, Blu and I began looking around to find the source of the noise. Soon after the rumbling was replaced by a metallic clacking sound. As we looked to southeast, we were able to see a massive tracked metal vehicle approaching us.

"Wait! That looks like an American tank!" Blu said, obviously knowing what this meant.

The engine in the ank died down, and the hatch on top the of tank then opened, and three men stepped out of the turret. They then began to look around the scene of the crash, probably looking for survivors. As they looked around, the three of us hurried to the tank and hid in the equipment rack at the back of the tank. We began to listen to these men, trying to figure out who they were and why they were here.

"McKnight, are there any survivors at the crash site?" Someone said over his radio.

"Negative HQ, no signs of survivors." McKnight replied.

"Copy that. Egress from the area and RTB for further orders."

"Roger that. We'll return to Rio for further orders."

Apparently someone had been watching out for Blu and I. I mean, what else were the chances that a tank just happened to be in the area, and that it's destination was our home. Whatever the occurrence was, all that I cared about was that we were going home, and that Blu was going to be alright, and most of all, that we would be able to live our lives again.

The three men then proceeded back to the turret, thankfully unaware of our presence, and fired up the tank's engines. As the hatch closed, we could feel the tank begin moving again, and we began our journey back towards Rio, and back towards home.

**A/N: Yes, Blu and Jewel are still alive. It really wouldn't be much of a story if they were dead right? Anyway, I apologize that this update was so delayed. I really have no excuse for it. I prefer to be more punctual. I hope that you enjoyed that chapter, and if you liked it, toss me a review.**


	14. The Journey Home Part II

**A/N: I sincerely apologize for almost a MONTH without an update. The long explanation is that while I was writing Chapter 14, I was about 100 words shy of finishing the chapter when my computer just shut off. I thought nothing of it, seeing as how Word has a recovery feature. When I went to log on, I got a error saying that it couldn't find the file containing my profile. After struggling with this for 30 minutes, I just decided to use a small hack to get past the login screen. When I got back onto Word, my chapter was completely gone, so really didn't feel like writing it again. That's why it's been so delayed.**

** Anyway, sorry for the delay and the long story, but I think it's time to get the gears on this story turning again, and I'll do it with this update. This chapter will contain shifts in the POV, so the POV will be marked when it changes. **

*****Blu*****

Some of you might be wondering why I would risk my own life to save Jewel. The answer is quite obvious. It's because I have an undying love for her, and I'd stop at nothing to protect her. That's why my left wing is messed up badly and my right wing is in similar shape. But let's be honest here. I've only been flying for a month or so, which means that I'm nowhere near as good at flying as I could be, which is why I'm not that worried about it. Sure it means that I'll be grounded again, but at least I'll be grounded with Jewel by my side.

As I though about it deeper, I could still remember the two of us on that plane as it plummet out of the sky like a rock. As we were awaiting the rush of death to come over us, love and logic were warring with each other in my mind. Logic wanted me to protect myself and prevent injury, whereas love wanted me to protect Jewel with everything I had, even if it was myself. Seeing as how logic never got me anywhere since I've been in Rio, I followed love.

See, love and logic are very interesting concepts. Let's start with logic. Logic dictates your decisions almost every time your put in a life or death situation. When your standing at the edge of a cliff about to start a BASE jump, or you're sitting in the pilot's seat of a jet at the start of the runway, logic is the one that says, "Hey, maybe this isn't a good idea". Logic makes you rethink your decisions and draws upon past experiences to keep you out of harm. To put it bluntly, logic is your common sense.

Now love is a whole different animal. Love makes you do things that you wouldn't normally do. It's the feeling that makes you risk life and limb for the ones that you care about. When the people that you love are in danger, love makes you take the metaphorical bullet for them. It's the only time that the self preservation instinct is extinguished.

However, when love and logic collide, that's when it gets hard. When your faced with the decision of risking your life for the ones that you love versus the decision of saving your life at the expense of those people, your left with a grueling choice. Logic wants you to survive, while love wants the significant other to survive. Being the caring, selfless bird that I am, and that fact that it's Jewel that was in question, I had no issue choosing Jewel over myself.

I guess that I made the right decision after all. Jewel was alive and well, and I was too, aside from the injuries I sustained. But I look at it this way: give it time, and you can heal broken wings, but you can never heal a broken heart and a shattered soul. If I had lost Jewel in that crash, I'd be forever lost in life without her. To me, she was everything I had to live for. But the good thing is that she isn't gone, and this stupid war is now over.

Funny thing about the war though. Never once during the war did either of us suffer a crippling injury, but as soon as the war ends, we almost lose our live in a fiery plane crash. I just guess that's fate doing what it does best.

What I've learned about war though, is that no matter how safe you think you are, or how advanced your military might be, your never safe from war. You could be enjoying your life to the fullest in a safe country, and without warning, war storms through everything you know. It ruins lives, and brings utter devastation in its wake. Fortunately for the two of us, we were able to ride it out and survive.

Now as Jewel and I are riding on top of this tank, I began to wonder how we would rebuild our lives. Our hollow had been decimated by some random jet crashing into it. On top of that, we had no idea if any of our friends survived. I'd have to make a mental note to see if they were indeed alive after we were settled back into place.

The tank ride throughout the jungle back to Rio was mostly uneventful. Aside from sporadic small talk from Jewel and Rico, there wasn't much in the way of talking. We all mostly just sat around enjoying each others company. I'm just glad that the worst of it is over…

*****Jewel*** **

As we continued on our journey, the constant clacking of the massive metal vehicle Blu called a 'tank' filled my ears. It was slightly annoying at first, but I've grown used to it, especially seeing as how this is really the only way for the three of us to get home, seeing as bow Blu is unable to fly again.

Speaking of Blu, he's come a long way since we first met. When I first saw him, I honestly did not care one iota for him. To me, he was simply a burden that dragged me down. Now as I've come to know him, I've found that he's so much more than that.

There were so many factors that could explain why I'm drawn to Blu. It could be his timid nature, or his awkward yet pleasant personality. Or it could be that he cares more about the lives of others than he does his own.

This was especially shown when he risked his own life to protect me. Never once in my life has anyone showed that amount of love and care for someone, let alone me. His actions at that point assured me that he would stop at nothing to make sure that I was safe.

The memories of our possible final moments were etched into my brain, never to be forgotten. I can still remember the look of panic and sheer terror in Blu's eyes. It was a look that broke my heart, seeing Blu in such fear and dread. He knew what the most likely thing that would've happened to us was, and I could picture the scenario of us dying in a massive inferno. As that was going on, the constant alarms from the front of the plane never stopped warning us of our altitude and of our impending demise.

"5000"

...

...

"2000"

...

"1000"

It was at that point that Blu face went from a deep cerulean color, to a ghostly white. But, instead of panicking, he rushed towards me and wrapped his wings around me and tackled me to the floor in one fluid motion. It was at this moment that I realized that Blu was using his own body to protect me. We knew that there wasn't much time left as the altitude warnings were faster and faster.

"500"

"400"

"300"

"200"

"TERRAIN WARNING! PULL UP!"

As we realized that the end was just ahead, we shared one final kiss, and prepared for the end. But apparently, we were lucky. Blu and I escaped with our lives, and that was all that mattered.

As I trailed off on the memory, I glanced over to Blu, who shot me a smile.

"How are you feeling Blu?" I asked, still somewhat concerned about his health.

"My wings still hurt pretty badly, but it doesn't matter to me right now. I'm just glad that you're alright." Blu said.

"Don't worry. We'll get you back to Rio so you can get help, and then you can get back to flying with me."

"I hope so. I really enjoyed flying around with you. I really don't want to lose that."

"You won't. Just as long as we make it back to Túlio."

"Okay..."

As the two of us looked ahead, we could see a clearing a short distance ahead. As we reached the clearing, I looked ahead and saw the city of Rio straight in front of us. As I looked at the city, something didn't seem right about it. As I looked closer, what I saw honestly shocked me.

** A/N: Yeah I know, bad cliffhanger. But regardless, I was able to get this chapter out using only my iPod and my Xbox 360, so that's gotta count for something. Anyway, I really do apologize for the delay, and I hate delaying things, but this was entirely unavoidable. Hopefully it'll get better soon.**


End file.
